Thing's Aren't Always as they Seem
by CelestialAngel2000
Summary: Amy just started attending Crawford Hall, she knows she's different, that she doesn't act like other girls her age, but does that give anyone any reason to be needlessly cruel? When she meets a man, with honey brown hair, she never realizes how quickly her life will change within the blink of an eye. *Story has been checked for grammar, and has more detail added then before.*
1. A New Place, A New Start

**A/N:** Okay everyone so quick update on this story; I went through all 27 chapters all over again and fixed up any grammar mistakes I could find (which wasn't hard), added a little bit more thickness to the overall story, especially the first ten chapters. And while I know that I have missed things, I would like to think that this really helped. Honestly, I'm surprised no one ever mentioned once how many grammar mistakes there were X) I hope you guys have an easier time reading this and you enjoy it :)

Now I am also almost completed the sequel to this story; well I actually technically am, however, my betas need to still go through the last ten or so chapters, and just so you all know, if you run across anything in this story that never seems quite answered I encourage you to check the other one. Something's probably won't be answered until the next story "_There is Always Hope_" so if you can check that out before you start asking any questions that would be awesome X)

**Title:** Thing's Aren't Always as They Seem

**Warning:** There will be some mild language and some minor violence but nothing rated M obviously

**Disclaimer:** unfortunately I do not own the brothers Sam and Dean or Gabe for that matter (known as the trickster right now) however, Amy, Jazz and Lance are my original ideas and creations! Some of the wording and scenes you will see later in the story are from the episode _Tall Tales_ of _Supernatural_ back in season 2 I think... And Crawford Hall is from the episode as well, I am merely playing on the set with these characters; and I do not gain any money from doing this; merely for pure entertainment and enjoyment, and to help with my writing :)

I've also before have gotten questions about Amy's age in this story; stick with it and it'll all answer itself :)

Hope you like it, and I didn't get rid of anything major; but some things were omitted, and others added to support this fic, so enjoy!

Celest ^I^

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><p>Amy walked up the main steps to Crawford Hall; looking up at the old, majestic building in front of her. She observed the structure before her with a critical eye; she took in the large, straight roman style columns flanking the stairs, and the old red brick monstrosity towering along with it. Large windows took up the sides of the building with a beautiful stain glass window at the center. It almost reminded her in some ways of an old church, with the roof eventually pointing off to a sharp point. Looking down at the paper she grasped in her hand, she pushed her long wind tossed blond hair from her face. She was looking for office 342. Walking through the front door, and out of the somewhat chilly day, she glanced around noticing a sign stating at the end offices 340-360 on the third floor.<p>

'Of course it would be something like that, duh Amy,' she thought to herself as she began to hesitantly climb the stairs; nervously pinching the bottom of her tight plain white tank top, as her book bag thumped against her butt with each upward step. As she continued traversing the stairs, she couldn't help but to reflect on how she had ended up here. Ever since she had ended up in school, she had always been a quick study. Her teachers were continuously amazed at her progress and constantly pushed her to do better and better, recommending her and her parents, to consider higher levels in schooling, since she was easily surpassing her peers. With that taken into consideration, it was no shock to anyone when she was already on grade six curriculum when her fellow students were still only in their fifth year.

You could perceive her being intelligent as either a blessing or a curse. Personally, had you asked her at the time, she would tell you for her, at her old school; it was more of a curse. She was already ostracized as it was. As a child she had always been taller for her age, her hair always becoming knotted and ratted easily, and her skin being so pale it was often joked that she looked like curdled milk when she cried. She was overall gangly for her age, and since she was taller it was harder for her to have an understanding and good control over her body; causing other kids to ridicule her and call her names when she would trip and fall periodically. These instances would make her go home crying every single day in secret. Never once, did she tell her parents, since she always thought it would make the situation worse. So whenever, they had asked her how school was that day, she would lie, with a large beaming smile on her face, blinking back the tears in her eyes, she would consistently say that it was great.

Since she was so bullied and picked upon, it made her a loner and she grew up having poor people skills. Not many kids were brave enough to approach her, but the ones that did she tried to hold onto for as long as she could. Alas it seemed none of them were ever meant to last. It always seemed to be the small things to her, which drove them away from her quickly.

Whether it was the things she had no control over, for instance her intellect, or she never had the same urges to do the same things as them. When they wanted to go out and bike down the block, she would rather stay in and read more or study. Her mother had always tried to push her slightly out of her comfort zone and do activities' with other girls her age, but once she realized that she had no drive to really participate with these other girls her mother slowly gave up, and instead supported her in any other way she thought she could. She would always give her a sad look that made her instinctual fears that she felt about these other girls a reality. She didn't belong with them, for some reason they didn't click, almost like separate species.

It was because of the "accident," or how she referred to it, that happened in her family; and the fact that she had nothing left for her there, that helped her make the decision to leave her old school far behind and transfer. She looked at it as a new start and relished having a second chance. However, she should have known better, slowly but surely the same problems followed after her, like a dog trailing its master; and she quickly became miserable once again. She hid what she could from her grandmother as best she could, in order to not worry the lady, but after a few years she finally accepted that she needed a drastic change otherwise she wouldn't last this way.

Psychiatrist visits didn't help her cope with her family tragedy. There was only so much a person, who sat on a couch, with a pen and a pad of paper, could do for her. She knew he never really cared; this was just a pay cheque to him, and was he even listening? Sometimes she swore that she could read his thoughts, or hear a popular jingle playing through his mind. After the last visit, where she felt like she could have done more harm than good to herself, she told her grandmother that she refused to go. She had silently agreed.

It wasn't till a month after that that she took what her teachers before had said seriously and began to look into colleges, with housing, to go to. Sending in her scores to as many as she found appealing she received enthusiastic responses back, even for someone of her extremely young age. The youth had talent, and they must have all thought she was some kind of prodigy child. Snorting in derision, she remembered leafing through all the acceptance notes until she came across one. Slitting open the envelope she took a look through at the college papers.

It was one that she had spontaneously sent too, not really expecting to take much of a notice to it at the end. Biting her lip in thought, she slept on the idea. Her dreams were plagued of the place all night, as if a force were calling here there. She became twitchy that morning, as if trying to scratch an itch that wasn't really present; finally, she had picked up the papers signed and mailed them and was able to take a sigh of relief. Her dreams were peaceful that night; and now two months later here she was.

Coming out of her deep thoughts, she noticed that she had made it up to the third floor and glanced around the otherwise deserted hallway. It was nothing-spectacular just doors down left and right, and other doors branching off into spare offices. She noticed that the 340's started to her left so she walked down it. Her worn out high tops smacked against the tile, the tired pads wearing even thinner. Stopping outside the room 342, she took a deep breath, and knocked. It was loud, making her flinch as she glanced nervously down the hallway; as if expecting someone to scold her for her outrageously loud behavior. Although, she knew that her thinking was illogical it didn't stop the fact. Nervously, she attempted to smooth down her hair, trying to make it look somewhat presentable, even though she knew it was a lost cause. After a few tense seconds, a man opened the door. He had grey hair and looked to be in his early 40's. A medium build and a very polite, kind face, Amy immediately felt comfortable around him.

"Ah, you must be Amy, correct?" he asked with a wide smile on his face.

"Yes, I'm sorry if I'm late," replied Amy nervously. Her eyes darted to and thro trying to see past him into his office.

"Oh no, don't you worry, I haven't been waiting too long just straightening up some stuff," he replied. Noticing her eyes flicking he smiled. "Oh how rude of me, my name is Brian Cox, but just call me Professor or Professor Cox."

"Umm nice to meet you sir," she said quietly as she took his hand into her own. He gave her a warm, firm shake looking her up and down. She tensed slightly at that, gripping the strap of her book bag tightly.

"Ah, quiet and polite, that's a good change around here. Normally the students are very boisterous and moody," said Professor Cox.

She didn't quite know if she was supposed to respond to that or not; or if it was an attempt on his part to ease her nervousness. She opted for the easy way out and gave him a polite smile, keeping her lips firmly sealed.

"Come in, come in." He invited her inside his office. Stepping back for her, she crossed the threshold hesitantly like a frightened deer and gazed around. It looked like any normal office would, she supposed. White walls, a large desk before a window, with a laptop and some books scattered across its large width. A comfortable chair sat behind the desk, along with two other chairs in the front for visitors. She noticed a book shelf on one side of the space; looking out the window she could see the front grounds where some students walked to and fro, getting settled back for a new year, or else trying to find out where they were headed.

"Please sit down, sit down," said Professor Cox, interrupting her silent perusal of the room.

She moved and sat down at one of the chairs in front of his big wooden desk, that he had indicated.

"So as you know Amy, you were assigned to me as a special case. I don't mean to sound as if I'm insinuating anything wrong by you or the situation; but if someone is giving you a problem, for instance another student, or anyone for that matter, you can come and talk to me, and we can get it all sorted out. We haven't had very many students that come to us under your circumstances, but we are overjoyed to have you. You show great promise, if you're records are anything to be believed," he joked easily, "Now I understand you specifically requested that you wanted your own dorm with a roommate, is that correct?" asked Professor Cox.

"That is correct sir," replied Amy wringing her hands nervously in her lap.

"You understand, Amy that the youngest students here are at least three years your senior, and those ones are of the acceptable age in these cases. However, you are-" he started to say.

"I understand that sir," she said quickly cutting him off before he could finish, "but I want to be treated the same here like everyone else. I would honestly prefer no special treatment what so ever. I just want to do my studies, and that's it."

Professor Cox nodded as he flicked through some documents on his desk. "Okay, I can understand that, so you know where your dorm is then I suppose?" he asked. Amy nodded her head. "Excellent and you have no further questions about your classes?" he asked again.

"No I don't sir."

"Okay then your free to go; you know where to find me. Should you ever find that I am not here, go to the office on the main floor and they will page me," he told her.

She nodded and got stiffly up; her book bag thumping against her again as she walked to the door opened it, and lightly closed it behind her. She proceeded back down the still deserted hallway, and started descending the stairs again, her shoes squeaking repeatedly on the tired tile. With the rest of the school ground bustling with activity, it was odd to see this place so deserted.

She was between the second and third levels when five girls came to stand before her. Her heart began beating quickly and fiercely as she stared at them. She had seen enough girls like this to understand what was probably going to happen in the next minute.

"Who are you freak? Haven't seen you around before," said a girl with long, straight blonde hair. Her features were striking, almost like an aristocrat. The other girls behind her all snickered; while none were as stunningly gorgeous as this one, they weren't unpleasing in any way. Minor flaws sure, but they could easily be overlooked.

'She must be the lead girl,' Amy thought to herself. "My name is Amy," she said in a quiet voice.

"Amy, huh, I like freak better. I mean you look like some kind of mini circus freak." Laughed the girl. "Just remember this is my school and you better stay out of my way! We don't take little misfits in, and you reek of something that came from the island of misfit toys."

With that, she pushed Amy hard into the wall; her head collided with the hard surface as she heard a small crack, and stars crossed her vision. The other girls laughed and strutted away up the stairs in their high heels. Slowly, cautiously, she stood, using the wall as a crutch, as she held her head. Tenderly she felt behind her head, relieved when she didn't feel the sticky residue of blood. She stood there a bit longer, as she allowed the small waves of dizziness to pass over her. Once it was bearable, and she didn't feel like she would fall down the stairs, she pushed off the wall and quickly walked the rest of the way down the flight of steps. The only thing that kept her from full out running was the steady pulsing of her brain, shuddering in relief, she opened the door leading back onto the grounds, and stepped out into the bright, windy, sunshine September day.

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><p><strong>AN:** You'll probably notice big changes and a lot more descriptions in the first ten chapters I would say; as the story progresses I didn't need to touch it more and more, and only needed to correct some minor mishaps and mistakes :) well, you'll notice I guess if you've ever read this story before anyways XD


	2. A Friend or maybe Two?

Amy shook violently, feeling close to a panic attack, as she quickly ran down the stairs and across the sidewalk to a big oak tree directly from the main building. She sat down underneath its wide, strong branches, the sunlight shining down through its yellow leaves, dappling the area around her; as she slowly took a large breath in and released it, in an attempt to calm down. Those girls were much older than she was and definitely more intimidating. The wind whipped at her hair blowing it irritably in her face. Swiping it away, she glared at it, as if it were its fault for being the length it was. She should seriously consider cutting it at the least. Leaves were slowly falling down from the oak, turning the ground around her gold and red. 'I shouldn't stay here too long,' thought Amy. She was still rather shaken though; here she was hoping that maybe she could get away from it, at least for a few days, and it seemed she didn't even deserve that luxury. Yeah okay, she was known as the oddball, even she had to admit that, but no one ever shoved her around like that. Ridiculed her, yes, but it never came to a head where physical violence was being used. Normal people could stand up for themselves, but she just felt like a small, insignificant, coward. Usually people just left her to her own devices; or some of the time anyways, and she preferred that. Then a shadow fell over her, disrupting her thoughts. She looked slowly, fearing that it was those same girls again, only to be pleasantly shocked as she looked up into the face of a man standing above her.

He had short thick brown hair that had streaks of honey blonde in it. It was slightly shaggy, looking as if he was just growing it out somewhat. He was…handsome she had to conclude to herself. He had straight chiseled features, delicate brows that weren't too heavy on his face, clean shaven and even though he wasn't smiling, his lips seemed to be quirked in a continuous smirk. However, the most interesting and intriguing thing about him, that you couldn't help staring at when you made eye contact, was his eyes. They were the most interesting mix of hazel, brown, gold, and green, they kind of reminded Amy of honey when she thought about it.

"Hey squirt, whatcha doin down there?" asked the man.

Amy blinked at him. She had never run into an adult before that talked like him. Mostly the adults she ran across were, cold, authoritative, and formal, even Mr. Cox was that way, she could just tell. He was different though, he seemed aloof, yet caring and genuinely concerned, which she found odd since they had just met. Staring up at him in confusion, she suddenly realized that he had talked to her.

"Oh! I was just resting for a bit," she said quickly, getting up and brushing leaves off of herself. She ignored the unsteady lurch her head gave her and shook it off.

The man in front of her seemed to notice and didn't appear as convinced by her half-hearted attempt at feigning her condition. "Rrriiiiggghhhhtttt," replied the man slowly giving her a once over, "Ok sure whatever you say little girl."

"I am not a little girl!" Amy huffed, glaring at him, completely forgetting her shyness for that one second.

The man just smirked at her and from inside his pocket pulled out a chocolate bar, un-wrapped it, and started to eat it right in front of her. Amy shook her head at the man.

"Hey can you tell me which way exactly to the dorms here?" she asked, wanting to be away from this strange fellow.

"Yeah, just go over that way away and you'll find a cluster of buildings that look like apartments. Their separated from the rest of the school so you can't miss them," he replied pointing off in a direction, still watching her closely.

"Thanks," replied Amy, and proceeded to quickly start walking off. She felt slightly uncomfortable at his scrutiny, almost as if he could see right through her. She had an uncanny feeling that he could, then quickly brushed that away, as she all but near sprinted across the campus, avoiding people as she gave them all a wide berth.

She didn't notice the eyes following her every move, watching her with a curious expression on his face as he finished his chocolate bar in one last bite.

Following the man's instructions, she was relieved when she found the dorms not even five minutes later. They weren't anything spectacular she thought to herself, but it wasn't as if she was about to complain.

She walked up to the first sign at the apartments. Apartments 10-60 the sign read by the door. It was faded with age and the weather constantly stressing it, but still legible. She pulled out her piece of paper with her dorm room and key on it. She was looking for apartment 32. 'Great, at least I found it on the first try,' she thought to herself. Thanking whatever gods were watching her for at least some good fortune that day; she pushed the door open to stop suddenly on the threshold and take in the scene before her.

Walking into the dorm room was like walking into a party. People hung around everywhere, someone was playing a small stereo loudly in the front entranceway, and she watched, slightly self-conscious, as students rushed to and fro; some finding their dorms, while others were reuniting after a summer spent apart. She gazed yearningly at all the happy faces and the chattering of different voices rising in the din, truth be told though, these kinds of large gatherings made her nervous. Steeling herself she walked into the boisterous groupings and made her way around. Finding the stairs, she began to quickly ascend, wincing at the loud creaks that reverberated under her feet as she quickly yet lightly walked up. Stopping at the third floor landing she started walking off to the left hand side.

Ducking and dodging around more people, all carrying cardboard boxes piled high with personal belongings; and passing by open dorm rooms with people unpacking inside; she couldn't help but notice that the place was dreary by all standards, but all the life the students provided it, seemed to help lighten the atmosphere. Eventually she came to door 32, and put her key in the lock. When she tried to move the doorknob, she noticed that it was already unlocked. 'My roommate must be here already,' Amy thought to herself as she gently pushed the door inwards and walked into her new home for the time being.

It was not that big of a place. It had a small sitting room and then three doors leading off a small hallway. For two people living here it was bearable, but it did have an odd odor of cats, which she sadly noticed, smelled like the rest of the building. With any luck, all the perfumes that the girls were wearing would eventually drown out the smell. And while perfumes were overbearing at times, she would rather take her chances. All of a sudden, Amy heard a squeal and turned around. A ball of energy practically flew into her and squeezed her tight. The person was laughing exuberantly, and Amy could swear her ears were ringing from the loud noise. Finally, the girl stopped and stepped away from her.

"I'm sorry!" she squealed, "It's just I wanted a roomy so bad and now that I have one I'm just so excited I don't even know what to do with myself!"

Amy saw close up, when the girl wasn't hugging her to death, that made her feel like her eyes were going to pop out of her head, she was actually fairly cute. She had dainty pixyish features, with a small nose, thin eyebrows, a pouty mouth and almond shaped eyes that were a beautiful deep shade of green. Her stature was small, maybe a foot or so smaller than Amy's 5'6". Her hair was short and the darkest shade of black with streaks of blue running through it in the right lighting, that it made her think of a ravens wing, and she definitely had a personality that could light up the room.

"Wait, did you say you wanted a roomy?" asked Amy quietly; inexplicably shy when faced with this amount of energy.

"Aw you're so quiet! But yes I did!" said the other girl jumping up and down on the balls of her feet, "It's just I get so lonely and I need company all the time, I swear everyone has told me it's like an OCD or something like that. Hey did you-"And she kept rambling on and on. Amy could not get a word in with her. Finally, when she came up to take a breath of air, she seized on her chance and pounced.

"I'm sorry, what did you say your name was?" asked Amy quickly.

"Oh my goodness! I forgot to tell you! My name is, Jazz!" Jazz said with a brilliant white smile that lit up her entire face. "Wait and you are-?"

"My names Amy."

"Ah! Nice to meet you officially, Amy!" Jazz exclaimed. Amy had a funny feeling that she was never going to get used to Jazz's bursts of continuous energy.

"So I don't think I've seen you around here before, and I mean some people brought in your luggage earlier, and they never do that, so I just couldn't help but wonder about you, and what classes you're taking, and how old you are, like where do you even come from? I lived in Sioux Falls, South Dakota," Jazz kept rambling on and on.

Amy could not hold back her laughter anymore. Her stomach started shaking and she broke out into a wide grin and started laughing right in Jazz's face.

"Hey! What's so funny?!" Even Jazz had to laugh; Amy's laugh was so infectious.

"It's not you! It's just; I have never met someone more talkative than you!"

"Oh! Yeah I get that a lot, everyone thought I had like ADD," replied Jazz still grinning.

"Well you just seem like a legit happy person all the time," said Amy. She could not help but feel safe and liked around this girl. She made her feel comfortable, and if she had to room with anyone, it would have to be her. Her smile made her feel light, and an air of peace and warm tranquility seemed to encompass the small girl.

"Hey so I'm like starving, I'm sure we can catch a bite to eat at the cafeteria. Wanna come with?" asked Jazz.

She was slightly taken aback by the straightforward gesture of kindness by the other girl; but wasn't one to pass it up. Maybe this was the chance she had been looking for since she got here, to make a new friend. "Yeah sure! What about ore stuff though?" asked Amy with a puzzled frown marring her features.

"Oh pish posh don't worry about it, it's not like it's going to grow legs and scamper off; although if mine did that I wouldn't feel so bad. I would love to go on a shopping spree for new clothes," replied Jazz wistfully as if just thinking about the things she would love to buy; like sugar plumbs dancing in her mind.

"Come on," said Amy rolling her eyes and grabbing her purse, which she had conveniently stuffed inside her book bag earlier. They both headed out of the door Jazz locking it behind her. As they walked back through the crowded dorm, Jazz leading the way, she couldn't help but feel that she had just made a friend for life. That realization created a warm glow inside of her, where a cold tempest had been brewing for many years.


	3. Spaghetti and Mean Girls

**A/N:** I didn't realize, or I completely forgot, how much of a total B**** one of my characters could be; until I started redoing all these chapters once more -.-

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><p>Jazz and I walked out of our dorm apartment and across the square separating the housing from the rest of the school. There was an abundance of trees in this small area as well, providing shelter from the summer heat no doubt and it gave the impression that it was peaceful. She could see, in her mind's eye, students sitting out on this lawn casually doing homework in the summer sun, or just hanging out with their friends. Periodically, a bench would be placed underneath a tree, providing a comfortable spot to sit on.<p>

Coming back to earlier, she looked down at her friend practically bouncing along beside her, and couldn't help but marvel at the fact that she had made a companion on the very first day of being here. That had never happened to her before. What was even stranger was that Jazz, was her polar opposite, and she meant POLAR OPPOSITE. She was incredibly hyperactive, whereas Amy was always calm, she was talkative and Amy shy, and while she had a very outgoing personality and was a people person through and through, she was very private and preferred to be alone.

Not only were their personalities different but so were their looks. She had short black hair and I had long blonde hair that reached mid-way down my back, she had green eyes while I had blue, delicate features adorned her facial structure, and mine were somewhat strong, especially my nose, which I couldn't help but vehemently oppose. Amy's nose was very straight, and she had always thought too large for her face, her lips were full and she had thick eyebrows for a blonde-haired person, which made her think of caterpillars.

Jazz was skipping along beside her jabbering about something or other, when finally I noticed she had stopped talking. I looked over at her and noticed that she was staring at me as if waiting for a response, or more accurately, I thought to myself, she caught on that I hadn't been listening to her all this time.

"Oh I'm sorry! What did you say?" I asked her, instantly feeling bad for not listening to the only person, who was being thoughtful and kind to me right now. She felt slightly nervous at her response, almost as if Jazz would refuse to talk to her now just because she wasn't paying attention.

"Nah no reason to be sorry girl! I was just asking you where you came from," she asked, her big bright green eyes smiling up at me.

"Oh umm I come from New York," I rather mumbled. Talking about anything to do with my past, made me upset and defensive quickly.

Jazz seemed to notice that almost instantly and immediately looked contrite.

"I'm sorry Amy; I didn't know it was a hard topic for you...forget I asked okay?" She looked at me pleadingly. When I looked at her again, I instantly felt bad for her. I did not mean to come off as harsh to her. She didn't know anything of my past, so there was no reason for her to feel guilty about anything. 'I guess that's just the way Jazz is,' I thought to myself.

"Hey, Jazz, no worries okay? Forget about it seriously. I just don't like to talk about my past too much, but maybe the more I get to know you the more I'll open up, kay?" I asked her.

Jazz seemed to brighten up instantly and was jumping up and down, as she usually does, I couldn't help but notice. "Ok sounds good, Amy!" she said with a big smile over her face, "Oh come on, were here!" She pointed at a building in front of us. It was attached to a big portion of the school that went up for three levels by the looks of it. The same rough, red brick adorned it, like every other school building on this campus. Following Jazz, as she skipped ahead, shouting back at me "Come on you slow poke!" I laughed at her and had to think to myself, 'Wasn't that a Pokémon?' Then shrugged and walked after her. We came to the door and she opened it wide flourishing her hand as she did so; almost like she was attempting to introduce me to the grand ballroom.

"Welcome to the cafeteria my, dear friend," Jazz said in a kind voice that sounded like she was announcing the queen. I laughed at her, thanked her, and walked in. There were some kids sitting around eating, but the majority of them I could tell were not here. Taking advantage of the last few days of good weather before the cold fronts started setting in, she supposed as she took everything in. Anyways, the cafeteria wasn't too big, enough to fit everyone that went to this school, at different times of the day, by the looks of it; however, all at once could be quite a stretch. Maybe it could sit two hundred people at the most, at once?

"Yeah I know it's not the biggest, but it's really good food here, and everyone is pretty nice! I swear one of the lunch ladies last year tried to make me eat a whole ham. She said I looked peaky and underfed. I told her it's just the way I am, but she didn't believe me," said Jazz conversationally.

"So what did she do?" I asked her.

"I swear she put a miniature pig on my lunch tray that day," replied Jazz. At my disbelieving look on my face, she said, " True story, stay away from her or you'll end up one hundred pounds overweight. I tried to eat as much as I could so I wouldn't hurt her feelings. I felt like a mini killer whale by the end of that lunch."

She couldn't help the mental visual Jazz, had just painted for her in her mind. She had to admit to herself, it was hard to envision this small girl eating that much. Jazz looked at me and grinned, "Hey what can I say? Weird things happen to me. Let's go find some lunch, and a seat."

Today's special was spaghetti and meatballs with a side of garlic bread. It smelled delicious and looked it to; I saw the steaming platters in front of me, and the scents assaulted my nose. The spice of the garlic, tingled my nostrils delicately and the warm hearty scent of the meatball sauce had me almost salivating right there in line. I hadn't realized how famished I actually was until my senses were assaulted with good food. I guess the stress of a new place, coupled with running into those girls really took it out of me and made my mind race enough to forget about my hungry stomach. We loaded up our plates and with that went to go look for a place to sit. As we started walking, I saw the same girls that had cornered me on the stairwell, and leading them like last time was the same leggy blonde-haired girl, who had pushed me against the wall. She saw me; and a nasty smirk came over her face. I looked away, hoping if I did, that she would not bother me; unfortunately, I should not have gotten my hopes up.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the freak," replied the blonde-haired person, her friends all around her snickering and whispering.

"Oh you were talking to me! I thought I upgraded from freak to FANTASTIC freak last year Missy!" said Jazz sounding as if she was legit hurt about this. Amy quickly looked down at her small friend, shocked that she had actually piped up against this giant of a girl, next to her incredibly short stature.

Missy looked at her coldly, "Not you Tinkerbelle, this one. I mean how old are you? Twelve? Sheesh they'll let anything in these days."

"Hey back off Missy! I didn't know that the bitchalympics were on already. Besides, what did she ever do to you?" exclaimed Jazz, pointing her thumb at her from the side.

"Well it's just the fact that she lives and walks these halls stinking up my air, if you know what I mean," sniffed Missy; her other friends giving her looks of pity. As if she was the one that was seriously hurt, by all of this. The only thing that was becoming hurt was any sense of pride, Amy felt, and self-esteem that she had managed to garner up.

"Actually, I don't know what you mean! I don't speak bitch!" shouted Jazz. The whole cafeteria went quiet. The girls, and Missy, all looked at Jazz with a murderous intention written on their faces as if they could just claw her eyes out right here and now. Jazz stared right back at them completely unfazed, and seemingly immune to the growing hostility. However; Amy was not used to this. She started to shake a little bit, becoming scared and frightened as the atmosphere intensified. Not just for herself, but her new friend as well. She would forever feel guilty if Jazz got beaten up because of her. With everyone's eyes staring at them, Amy gently grabbed onto Jazz and tried to tug her away from the other girls.

"Come on Jazz, forget about it. It's not worth it to get in trouble," I tried to say quietly to her, so this Missy, and the others, would hopefully not over hear, but it seemed today just wasn't my day.

"Aw, you should listen to your little girlfriend Tinkerbelle and go, or we'll mess you both up," said Missy in a threatening tone of voice, the other girls starting to crowd around. Suddenly Missy walked over to Amy, and before anyone could see it coming tipped Amy's tray right into her knocking her spaghetti all over her. The tray dropped to the floor with a clatter, ringing loudly in the silent cafeteria, as the hot mess of the spaghetti sauce stained her white tank top and noodles got caught in her bra. She winced as the scolding food burned at her skin; Missy and the other girls started laughing; everyone else just pretended that they hadn't noticed, or heard, anything happen. Amy looked down at herself and her face turned beat red.

"Amy!" exclaimed Jazz.

She just shook her head, turned around, and ran. She could hear Jazz calling out for her, and Missy and the other girls ringing laughter in her ears as she bolted outside.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** See? I told you -.-


	4. Conversation for Two

Running out of the cafeteria as fast as she could; tears streaming from her eyes and her vision blurry because of it, barely avoiding colliding with people as she quickly turned corners. She ran into the first building that she could, not even paying any attention to her direction, not knowing where her feet were taking her; all she knew was that she wanted to get as far away from that scene, and those girls, as possible. Even from Jazz, she was probably so mad at her for leaving her there, with those other girls on her own. And while the thought of Jazz mad at her, made a stone fall hard in her stomach, she couldn't stand there when that girl spilled her tray of food all over her. So she did the only thing a person in her situation might have done; she ran.

Amy ran through a deserted hallway, the food cooling and drying on her quickly, as she sprinted down the corridors. It made her feel gross as it crusted onto her skin and congealed in places, food should never be, but she ignored it as she quickly spun another corner. It was too bad that she wasn't paying attention however, since she ran full force into a hard body bouncing off it slightly. It shocked her enough to stop her crying, but the force with which she had smacked into the person was enough to send her sprawling to the ground. Bracing herself for the impact, she was pleasantly shocked when it did not come.

Arms had grabbed her by the shoulders to steady her, gripping her tightly as she struggled to find her footing, almost like a baby lamb trying to stand for the first time.

"Whoa! Where is the stampede? I hope I don't have to clean that up to," said a man's voice.

"I'm so sorry! I wasn't paying any attention to where I was going!" sobbed Amy, trying to hide her tears. Her heart was beating quickly in her chest as she tried to calm down, and stop her shaking.

"Hey; whoa, whoa, it's okay kid! No harm no foul is what my motto in life is!" replied the man starting to laugh, "Well kind of, actually it's 'If you're sad eat candy' but everyone has their own preferences."

Something about the man's voice triggered a memory in Amy's mind. She looked up into the man's face and saw the same beautiful eyes staring at her, as they had been just a little earlier that day, not two hours ago. Her own blue eyes widened at the sight, what were the chances that she would run into him twice, in such a short amount of time? Immediately she became nervous under his piercing, hawk like stare, and couldn't help but feel self-conscious as she just realized that she had dried spaghetti down her front.

"Well look at this! Your that same girl that was sitting under that tree earlier today, seems fate just loves to smack us together, literally, wouldn't you agree?" asked the man, his eyes sparkling. He frowned as he noticed the mess she was in. "Girl, you work fast, personally I prefer to be covered in sweets, but too each their own. You didn't strike me as the food kink kind of girl."

Amy had not realized that the man had just made a reference to her now ruined shirt. She had zoned out at the feeling of peace that overcame her body, in his presence. She felt safe with him for some reason and she couldn't quite put her finger on why she felt that way. It was almost as if the last thirty minutes had melted away like nothing had transpired. Finally, she realized that the man was still talking to her and waving a hand in front of her face. Startling, she jumped slightly as she came out of her reverie.

"I'm sorry! Umm, what were you saying?" she asked politely.

"Jeez, you're a spacey little munchkin aren't you?"

"I am not a munchkin for your information!" Amy exclaimed once again at the man; completely forgetting her earlier predicament.

The man held his hands up in defeat, trying to placate her it seemed.

"Okay, sorry, but what's your name?" he asked.

"It's Amy. Now what's yours?" Amy asked.

"You can call me, Gabe," he replied with a small smile, as he took a lollipop out of his jacket pocket and stuck it in his mouth.

"Nice to meet you, Gabe," Amy replied politely. "So are you a teacher here? Or-" she trailed off waiting for an explanation.

"No mam! I'm actually the school janitor; never fancied myself as being a teacher. I've been mopping this floor for 6 years and taking out the trash," he replied turning back to his mop. Seemed like he was doing exactly what he had been doing for six years, when Amy had run straight into him.

"Hey so what's bothering you, kid? You seemed pretty distressed," Gabe asked nonchalantly.

"For starters I am not a kid. I'm seventeen years old, and it's really not that important. Although, how did you know?" she asked sarcastically.

Gabe looked at her shocked for a split second, and then a grin came over his face, "You really are a little munchkin! No seriously! You do realize that this is a college right? Did you take the wrong turn because you don't appear to be seventeen." He said all this with a laugh as he kept mopping the halls. Looking up he raised an eyebrow. "Oh, and it's not too hard, your covered in spaghetti after all."

"I am fully aware that I don't appear my age, thank you," said Amy quietly. "There's no chance that I could possibly forget." She looked down at herself embarrassed. "Oh.." she merely mumbled out.

"Must be one smart cookie to get here; where do you come from?" Gabe asked her, ignoring the food fiasco on her.

"If it's any the same to you, Gabe, I would prefer not to talk about my past," said Amy shortly.

"Fair enough, I understand the feeling," Gabe said.

"You do?" asked Amy surprised for a split second. He didn't strike her as the type who had a bad past, just judging though by his playful attitude, which was nothing to base first impressions off of and judgements.

"Yeah, me and my family haven't spoken in years," Gabe replied passively.

"What happened with yours?" Amy asked, not sure if she should ask a question like that. After all, they had only just met, plus she could understand someone's need for privacy; but her parents did sometimes say she didn't have tack when it came to dealing with other people's emotions.

"I would prefer not to talk about my past," Gabe replied quoting her word for word, for what she had just told him, when she had asked him.

Amy could not help but smile at this. He struck her as such a care free spirit, someone that always had a smile on their face, and was a joy to be around. He also seemed a bit of a troublemaker but she could be wrong about that after all.

'I shouldn't just judge him on first appearances,' thought Amy to herself. "Fair enough," she told him aloud.

"You know, I know I'm a janitor and all, but I usually don't clean up messes on people, kind of not in the job description. So if that's what you came running here for…" Gabe trailed off.

Amy jumped slightly. "Oh! No, I just was a complete klutz and made a complete fool of myself back there. Just had to get away quickly and this was the first place I ended up." She didn't want to tell this man about her problems with Missy. She may feel comfortable around him, but she really didn't know him and didn't want to jump into anything prematurely.

Gabe nodded his head but still didn't look very appeased by her answer, "If you say so girl, but listen. If you should ever need help, of whatever kind, you can come to me."

"That's awfully nice of you for offering that, but why would you? You hardly know me," said Amy slightly confused, a small frown marring her features.

"Well between me and you Aim, I can call you that right?" and without waiting for a yes or no continued on, "I know a good kid when I see one, and your one of them. I like to help good people out any way I can and cut them a break. One thing I hate to see the most is someone strutting around acting like they know the place; but even if you just need someone to talk to, I'm your guy," said Gabe winking at her.

Amy thought about it for a second. She knew Professor Cox had offered her a friendly ear to talk to too if she needed it, but she hadn't felt fully comfortable with him. While he had an easy going smile, she couldn't shake the thought out of her head that that was some kind of lure, to tempt her in. With Gabe on the other hand, she felt like she had known him for years, even Jazz as well. With that thought in her head she nodded to Gabe. "Okay I'll take you up on that," she told him with a bright smile.

Suddenly, from in the distance she could hear a voice calling for her, she turned around. As it got closer, Amy recognized the voice belonging to Jazz.

"I'm over here Jazz!" she shouted down the hall. Within a couple of seconds, Jazz came whizzing from around the corner, almost tripped, and fell on the still slightly slick floor. She stopped in front of her panting.

"I think I lost a lung or something back there, I've been looking for you everywhere! Are you okay?" Jazz asked frantically, starting to check her over like a mother hen. She wiped any stray sauce that she could from her person, and even picked some noodles out of her shirt and bra for her; grimacing at it and flicking it onto the floor. Amy couldn't help but think that Gabe wouldn't be too pleased with the extra work her friend was providing him with.

"Well, besides the food all over me I'm fine, it's nothing a good shower can't fix," Amy replied to her shrugging slightly, as she watched her finish up as best she could.

"What a bitch she is! Ugh! People like her should be deported!" raged Jazz. She crossed her arms angrily in front of her small chest and pouted. "Like, you do realize that shirt is completely ruined now, right? I could find her dorm and do some snip, snip of my own." She mimed holding up scissors in her right hand and making a cutting motion.

"JAZZ!" I shouted shocked at her outburst. My parents had always taught me never to say a bad word about anyone, you never knew their past they claimed. "You can't just go snipping her clothes! That's mean!"

Jazz merely stared at her. "This is coming from the girl who Missy just covered in spaghetti. Wow, I don't think I've ever met anyone that internally good before. Me, I would be frothing at the bit to get her back. Anyways, I've always wanted to cut those perfect blonde locks of hers so if you ever have a change of heart just say the word! Anyways, what were you doing down here?" asked Jazz.

"I was just talking to Gabe here," Amy replied pointing behind her.

Jazz looked confused for a second, "Umm, who Amy?"

"Gabe…he's right behind-"

However, as Amy turned around to look behind her, all she saw was a long, and completely deserted, hallway. The only people in it were her and Jazz.


	5. History Always Seems to Repeat Itself

**A/N:** So I had one time say that people who start college are 18 years of age; however, that isn't exactly true. Many of my friends, or people who I knew, went to university and they were only 17, they hadn't exactly turned 18 yet. I know it's a small blip, but it's true :p

* * *

><p>"Oh, kay; yeah, you're not crazy or anything," replied Jazz puffing her cheeks out and blowing through her mouth. She scratched her head at a complete loss as for what to say.<p>

"I'm serious! He was right there!" Amy said wildly gesticulating at the spot behind her. She looked frantically up and down the hallway, thinking that the janitor would show himself. However, he never did, and she bit her lip in puzzlement at that.

"Yeah, I think the noodles actually got in your brain somehow instead of on the floor, and in your shirt," said Jazz, staring at Amy. Holding up her hands in defeat she shrugged at the tall blonde.

Amy couldn't understand it. Mere seconds ago she had been talking to Gabe, and now all of a sudden, right before Jazz got here, he wasn't here. That is strange. How could someone disappear that quickly and they had no place to go? It's not as if he could have just vanished into thin air…or unlocked a classroom and stepped in, she would have heard him.

"Well, now that we have established that you are completely crazy, which means you're normal in my books by the way, let's go unpack and get settled. Tomorrow is first day of classes and me and you need to be ready!" With that Jazz, turned on her heel and skipped off back the way she had come.

Amy gave one last look back at the deserted hallway, shrugged her shoulders, and turned to follow Jazz back to their dorm; the mop leaning forgotten on the side of the wall.

**~x~**

**Dorm**

**~x~**

Back at the dorm, Jazz started struggling to pull her large suitcase into one of the rooms. Amy could hear her grunting over the weight of it, occasionally swearing viciously as she stubbed her toe, and had to wonder how Jazz had managed to lug it all the way up here in the first place. The girl was tiny for crying out loud! She must have some muscles that weren't overly apparent when you first looked at her. Maybe, she should tell her to invest in something that had wheels next time.

Shaking her head in amusement, she began to wheel her suitcase down into the remaining room across the small hall directly from Jazz's; nothing spectacular; just a small bed, and a sliding door closet, a tiny dresser where she could keep her more delicate clothing stood against the far wall. Amy heaved her suitcase onto the bed and started to rummage through it. She quickly started hanging clothing up in the closet, and folding things away in the drawers. As she did this she couldn't help but think back on some things.

Leaving her hometown and life behind, with the one good friend that she had made there, was extremely painful, but this was her new life now. Even though she had been a loner, she had been lucky enough to experience one good friendship in her time so far. But that didn't leave her with much back there, or a want to go back to, she just had to keep looking forward to a hopefully brighter future. Meeting Jazz, her first day here, was like a blessing sent from God above. She only could hope that Jazz didn't change her tune about her any time soon, if she had to deal with another flake of a friend, she would probably go stir fire crazy.

As she was unpacking the books that she had put away meticulously, her thoughts strayed to her classes and the anticipation she felt boiling inside her. She was immensely interested in so many things though that it was hard to stick with only a handful of classes, and not go completely overboard.

Finally, after much consideration she picked a couple of ancient language courses, and a few history courses to take. Since she liked books so much, she thought history would be a smart decision for her, considering that's where all manner of information past and present was kept and would be still in the future. She loved the smell of musty tomes and the art of dead or rare languages. It felt to her like a song, or a riddle that she needed to translate. She remembered staying up late into the night, some days, learning how to read obscure languages; enjoying how the pages crinkled under her delicate hands, and old, worn appearances they had bared. It was almost as if each had the soul of the author embedded within their pages. Yes, she was weird as people had told her, her whole life in actuality, but hey, it wasn't so bad.

Then her mind took a different course of thought, straying to the meeting with Gabe. He was there, she knew he was; but where could he have went? 'Well,' Amy sighed, thinking to herself, 'next time I see him I'll just have to ask him what's up,' she decided mentally. With the ending of that thought firmly implanted in her head, she shook out thoughts of the man as Jazz's own popped up around the corner.

"Hey! So I actually thought of going to get us some food since we didn't have the luxury of eating thanks to Miss Prissy and all," Jazz snarled, "So you still hungry?"

"Umm, yeah, I'll eat why not? I'm gonna take a shower while you're going to get the food though so I can feel more fresh," responded Amy. She looked down at herself in disgust and took a delicate sniff, wincing at the strong smell of garlic and tomato. It was hard to believe even for her, but in the midst of unpacking she had forgotten her earlier episode, and now the cold food was securely stuck onto her person.

Jazz winced at her predicament, as she watched her. "Okey dokey! See ya soonish!" With that, the small girl bounded out of the room and Amy could just hear the door closing with an audible snap. Quickly walking back to her suitcase, she pulled out some jammies and a plastic bag of her toiletries and walked to the bathroom. Like the two bedrooms and the small sitting room, the bathroom wasn't much either. It just had the essentials, in this gross mustard yellow colour on the walls. She wrinkled her nose slightly and decided this whole place needed a new makeover, just like she did right now.

Quickly stripping herself of her dirty, and ruined, clothes and stuffing them in a bag; she made a mental note to get rid of them as soon as she could. Turning on the shower, and adjusting it to the right temperature for herself, she hopped in; relishing in the warm spray of the water as it began to soak through the mess, sending red streaming off her body to collect and flow down the drain at her feet. While she scrubbed every single inch of herself, she only vaguely realized that she still had small bits of noodle still in her hair. How mortifying after meeting Gabe.

Within a couple of minutes Amy had finished, she toweled her hair, dressed in her jammies and walked out to the sitting room. Jazz still wasn't back yet; which was fine by her. Deciding that this was a good time as any, she walked back to her room and grabbed some of her books that she had taken with her from home and flopped onto the couch, beginning to leaf through the pages until she found where she had left off. Before she was about to start, she pulled the curtains back letting the natural light flood into the room. Sitting curled up, she began to get lost in her novel. Her book was titled _Eragon_ by _Christopher Paolini_. She loved the rich imaginative displays you could have playing in your mind, painting beautiful backdrops and stunning characters each with their own quirks, as the story progressed onwards. It reminded her slightly of a combination between _Lord of the Rings_ and _Star Wars_; however, she loved them both, so to her this was a mere bonus. The author had a way of describing beautiful landscapes, the harsh realities of the citizens and what one must do in order to survive another day. She enjoyed the characters, storyline and the twists and turns immensely.

After a few minutes Jazz came back, bursting through the door carrying two take out looking boxes filled with spaghetti.

"I got the grub Madame!" Jazz shouted with a French accent. Amy giggled at her, and placed the book gently down on the coffee table, mentally marking her page number, as she rose to grab a carton from the small girl.

"Thanks, Jazz," said Amy gratefully.

"Hey, no probs man" replied Jazz, "besides after your kind of day it's the least I could do for you."

It was silent for a couple of seconds, each one enjoying the thick taste of the sauce, the soft noodles and the strong garlic of the bread. Finally, Amy found her voice to talk to Jazz. "Look Jazz I'm sorry for-"

"If you're about to say that you're sorry for leaving me there to fend for myself against them, don't bother," said Jazz. Amy's head quickly shot up at Jazz scared for a second that her one and only friend next to Gabe (she was still on the fence about that, but it looked like that was shaping up more and more to be the case) was mad at her.

"Oh wait! Hang on! I didn't mean that I was mad at you or anything! Goodness no! I'm just sorry I didn't plow that chick one," replied Jazz, huffing angrily as she stabbed at her noodles with rage.

Amy could not contain the snort of laughter at her friend. Normally, she would have scolded Jazz again, but she was just too happy that her friend wasn't mad at her for leaving her there and knowing they were still cool. They finished off their dinner then sat on the couch and talked for a couple of minutes before they both needed to turn in and get some sleep; for tomorrow.

"Ok so what kinds of courses are you taking?" asked Jazz. She stretched largely beside her giving a massive yawn, as she rubbed her eyes.

"Umm mostly courses on dead languages, world history, stuff like that, even some psychology and nutrition," Amy replied shrugging slightly.

"So you're basically a major book worm freak," Jazz said confidently. "And it also sounds like a nutritionist buff. You're not going to get on my case for any unhealthy choices you see me doing, like eating wise I mean, right?"

Amy snorted in amusement at that. "Don't worry I won't. It's just for my own health; I like to be aware of what I eat." She shrugged after finishing that answer. "As for books, I've always been known as a book worm and because of that a loner."

"Relax, Amy, I have friends exactly like you, their huge book nerds. While I'm kind of the street smart their book smart, whatevs though we all balance each other out. And I would say you're doing well with your health. Damn girl, your one of the thinnest people I've ever met, if you turned to the side you could almost disappear," said Jazz. She glanced over at her from the corner of her eye then. "And you shouldn't consider yourself a loner anymore girl. You got me! I kind of stick to people at times, well, people that I like I should say. I can't stand rude, ignorant people. They make me want to spit fire. Know what I mean?"

Amy blushed at her friend. "Yeah I think I get what you mean. I've kind of been plagued by people like that through the course of my life." It became silent in the room at her confession and she cleared her throat nervously at the sudden silence. "So what exactly are you taking?" asked Amy hoping to change the subject and get rid of the attention from herself.

"Well, I wanted to get into acting, so I'm taking a whole bunch of different drama courses and stuff like that. I don't know it's always been a passion. I love to be in front of people entertaining them," said Jazz, gazing wistfully into the distance as if picturing herself in the center of a huge stage, or an event in her past, with the applause raining down on her, and the crowd screaming and clapping her name. Amy couldn't help but smile at her friend's dreamy eyed stare.

"So is this your second year here?" asked Amy.

Jazz startled and turned to stare at her, "Oh yeah! Yeah it is. It's not so bad once you get used to it. Sure, everyone is so focused on what they do, but hey, there are still the parties and those are always interesting and fun to go to!"

"I don't really do parties," Amy said in a small shy voice.

"You don't?" asked Jazz staring at Amy in disbelief.

"Well no…umm…I never really had the time and uh…" Amy slowly trailed off at seeing the look on Jazz's face.

"That settles it. I'm taking you to your first party ASAP," stated Jazz puffing her chest out. Now Amy really didn't know what to do. She didn't want to hurt Jazz's feelings but at the same time she wasn't entirely too sure she wanted to be in the party scene.

"I'll be with you constantly okay? You can be, like, my wing girl," said Jazz joyfully.

Amy found she couldn't say no to that face, so meekly she nodded her head slightly. Jazz shrieked, hugged Amy, and bounded to her room.

"Come on girl! Classes start tomorrow and we need to get some kind of beauty sleep," shouted Jazz.

Amy just shook her head at her lovable roommate and got up from the couch, closed the curtains and walked to her room shutting the door quietly behind her and going to bed. She was so exhausted that as soon as her head hit the pillow she drifted off and knew no more.

**~x~**

**The Dream**

**~x~**

Amy's dream was dark as her feet slapped the ground with a rhythmic motion. She was running from something chasing her just on her heels, she could feel its hot breath on her neck and smell its foul odor, like rotten eggs and sulphur. Trying to achieve another burst of speed, she ignored the screaming of her legs, the frantic pumping of her heart, and her lungs crying out for air, a stitch in her side was making her cramp, and she knew instinctually that she couldn't keep this going for much longer. She could feel sweat pouring down her face as she panted desperately; refusing to glance behind her to catch sight of the beast.

Suddenly a bright light filled her whole dream. Behind her, the thing gave a startled scream and seemed to vanish. Amy shut her eyes tightly and hid them behind her arms; she started to tremble as an overwhelming presence filled her consciousness. It felt vast and alien, something with infinite wisdom and who had seen many, many years, beyond her own time. She fought the urge to cower even more and kneel down on her hands as knees. Legs shaking badly she tried to peek up from the cover of her arms.

Suddenly a voice spoke to her seemingly coming out of the bright white light.

"Don't be afraid of me Amy, I'm a friend."

**~x~**

**End of Dream**

**~x~**

"Amy."

"Amy!"

"AMY!"

Amy sat bolt upright in her bed, smacking Jazz straight in the mouth with her head. Jazz reeled from the blow, nearly toppling backwards off her feet, while Amy clutched her head in pain.

"Oww, girl! Jeez you have a strong head!" remarked Jazz, trying to hold onto her sore mouth.

"Oh like your one to talk! I probably have teeth marks in my forehead now thanks to you," said Amy right back to her. She winced as she felt the small indentations of Jazz's teeth throbbing in her forehead.

"Eh they look good on you anyways," said Jazz.

"What were you doing even leaning over me like that?" asked Amy confused still rubbing at her sore forehead.

"Well I came to wake you up, I tried shouting for you, but obviously you didn't hear me. Then when I came in you were moaning and tossing around a bit in your bed so I had to wake you up, and, well, you know the rest," remarked Jazz at the end of her story starting to massage her jaw.

"Wait, how much longer do I have until class?" asked Amy dread flowing through her.

"Like 20 minutes, that's why I'm telling you to get up and get your ass moving!" exclaimed Jazz.

Bolting out of bed, she skidded past, almost bowling over the small girl, in her haste to get ready as fast as she could go. She ran to her closet swinging the doors open and frantically rummaging inside to grab a few items of clothing. Quickly, she began to strip down, and pull on her clothes, completely forgetting about Jazz's presence. She needn't have worried though, as soon as Jazz had seen her begin to undress, she had walked out of the room.

"So what exactly were you dreaming about? Sounded pretty intense," said Jazz offhand outside of her room.

"Never mind! I can't be late for my first day of classes!" exclaimed Amy. She quickly whisked her hair into a quick ponytail, wincing at the greasy look it contained, grabbed her backpack, luckily she had stuffed it last night, and ran out of her room. Jazz bolted right behind her, and they took off.

"I was…just…wondering…" panted Jazz beside her.

"It's nothing, don't worry about it seriously, just a stupid dream!" shouted Amy as they took the stairs in their dorm two at a time, almost breaking ankles in their mad rush to get to class.

They eventually had to split off. Jazz running right while Amy went left. She heard Jazz yell that she would see her later and that's the last she heard as she bolted into one of the many buildings. The halls were crammed with students flocking left, right, and center to get to their classes for the day. Amy quickly walked down the right hand hallway and tried to sneak faster through the crowd, but it was pointless; it was too thick for her to get through easily, and there was always someone blocking her way. She made it with a minute to spare and stepped into her first class of her college career.

Stopping in the door way she did a double take; realizing that she was in the right room she took another quick glance around. The class was incredibly small, almost completely empty. This classroom could fit maybe 30 to 40 people, but instead there were maybe 15 if the teacher was lucky. Shrugging, she lugged her book bag to the back quickly taking a seat near a male student with a kind sparkle in his eye and wavy brown hair. The other kids looked bored; some appearing as if they had just woken up, and some even looked slightly drunk. Taking another glance around her she was pretty sure, that as of right now she was the only one excited for this class.

Finally, the professor walked into the room. He was a short and pudgy man, with a slight moustache and small watery eyes, his hair was wispy and starting to go from its chestnut looking colour before too white. She thought he appeared nice, if not tired and worn down and she eagerly began tapping a pencil lightly against the desk, in an effort to calm her residual nerves.

"Okay class, let's get started. Now we are going to delve into the art of languages that have long since disappeared, been immersed into more modern languages, or others that are still just thriving today but barely by small pockets of people all around the globe; but first we shall start fairly simple."

With that Amy was instantly engrossed in her class for the next hour in her lesson. Suddenly, the bell rang making her startle. She heard the scape of chairs being pushed back, and the shout in the hallway as other doors opened to admit more flocks of students. The rest of the class quickly started packing up their things and leaving.

"Don't forget to have those translations done for the day after tomorrow," shouted the professor over the din of hundreds of pairs of feet and voices, drowning him out from in the hallway.

She quickly packed her stuff and began to walk to the front of the room to join the queue teaming up to join with the main mob in the hallway. In her rush however, her notebook had slipped out smacking the floor with a hearty slap onto the linoleum flooring. Stopping, she was about to lean down and pick it up, when another hand had grasped it. Looking up, she saw the same boy that was sitting not too far away from her; the one she had first noticed when she had sat down.

"Hey, here you go. First time in college?" he asked her kindly as he handed her book back.

"Umm yeah, it's ok so far," she replied slowly as she delicately took the book back.

"Wait till you see the workload you'll be saddled with, then you won't think it's so great." Snorted the boy. "Oh hey my names Lance and you are?" he asked offering her one of his large hands.

"My names Amy," she said quickly taking his offered hand and shaking his. His grip was firm and warm as he pumped her arm once.

"Okay cool, Amy. Well then see ya around?" He waved to her, then without waiting for an answer trucked out.

She walked out of the room and stood in the hall staring after him for a few seconds. He seemed all right too; maybe her luck with people was slowly turning around. She was lost in silently congratulating herself on making a good impression so far with some people that she hadn't noticed the unwelcome visitor coming up behind her.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the little bitch. Where's your pit-bull freak?"

Amy knew that voice and her stomach sank right to the floor, as she cringed slowly pivoting on the balls of her feet. Standing behind her was Missy, which came as no surprise to her, along with the other girls that seemed to constantly flank her. It seemed like the crowd of people were flowing around them, parting like a river parts around a rock, and no one was taking any notice to Amy's plight. She started to tremble slowly in anxiety as she took in the girls before her.

"Well? I asked you a question," Missy told her starting to stalk forwards like a tiger would do to a deer. "Where's your little guard dog bitch?"

"Excuse me is there a problem here?" asked a voice that Amy instantly recognized.

Quickly turning her head to glance behind her, she saw Gabe standing there not even a foot away from her. Missy looked surprised, angry, and then slightly frightened. Amy couldn't help the sharp zing of surprise ring through her body at Missy's reaction to Gabe. It was almost as if she knew him, and on some kind of level feared him. That intrigued her for she hadn't seen a bad side to Gabe yet; albeit, she had only come into contact with him three times now, but those times had all left an impression; and none were immediately alarming.

"No, no problems sir, we were just having a friendly chat," replied Missy in a haughty tone of voice, seemingly able to scrounge up some shred of her pride.

"Well continue it elsewhere, I believe you have classes, correct?" Gabe asked Missy raising an eyebrow at her.

Missy looked like she was going to rage then thought better of it, she snapped her fingers to the rest of the girls behind her, almost as if she were commanding dogs, and they walked off with their noses in the air.

She stared after them in astonishment at their behavior. Yes, she had seen many different kinds of people, each acting in their own unique ways; but never before had she run across something like Missy, and her "pack" they were quite something else.

"You know when I said that I've been taking out the trash? I didn't just mean the garbage in the cans around this place," Gabe replied in a voice that Amy could not quite pin point as she turned to regard him closely. After seeing Missy's reaction, she looked at the janitor with a new light. "So you've been having run ins with Missy."

Fidgeting in nerves she wasn't quite sure whether to accede that that was what was going on, or try to deny it. At this point it would probably be pointless, but she still kept her silence.

"Okay kid, you seriously need to learn to take a joke honestly, or one of these days you might pop a blood vessel," remarked Gabe. "It doesn't take Einstein to figure out that you two just don't add up well together. Anyways, you should probably head off to your classes before your late, you got about 5 minutes left."

Hastily looking up at a clock, mounted on the hallway just in front of her, her stomach dropped slightly as she realized that Gabe was right. And her next class was all the way on the other side of the school. Sighing, she accepted the fact that she would un-doubtfully be late. Her mind back tracked to the other day, turning around, her mouth open to ask the janitor about the other day in the hall; she was shocked to see him gone. Spinning around in a circle she saw no sign of him anywhere. Biting her lip in frustration she stamped her foot, spun on her heel, and took off running down the hallway to her class.

This seemed to be a constant trend with him, so she knew instinctively that she would meet him again, probably somewhere she wasn't expecting too. Filing it away in her mind to thank him, she picked up the speed, sprinting down the hallways since they were empty of only a few stragglers with no classes.


	6. Some Scars Never Fully Heal

Amy slowly made her way back from her last class of the day; psychology. She couldn't help herself as she went over everything her professor had said, over again in her mind like a continuous loop. Puzzling, and turning over every interaction she had had with Missy up to that date, she tried to piece together exactly what was her problem. So far she had come up with nothing, rolling her eyes at her brilliant diagnosis. Maybe, she should be worried about herself for trying something like this. In her experience it was usually the psychologist that needed to be evaluated.

Dragging her feet back up to her dorm room, she fumbled for her key in the pocket of her jeans. When she didn't feel the familiar sharp edges of the key she began to panic; quickly she pat herself down and looked in her book bag; not having any luck in locating the elusive key. When she accepted that it wasn't on her person she thumped her head against door in front of her and let out a large sigh.

"Oh for crying out loud!" Amy said to the empty hallway. She knocked on her dorm room door hoping that Jazz would be in already from classes. She saw the doorknob turn and then Jazz's head was standing in her field of sight.

"Amy?" she asked her in a confused voice.

"Thank goodness you're in already! I totally must have lost my key because I can't find it anywhere on me," replied Amy in a thankful tone as she bustled around Jazz with all her books and notes. She was completely over laden with research papers and textbooks with notes sticking out of pages all over the place; like hair after a wind tunnel. Hurriedly walking over to their little coffee table she dumped everything on top of it, nearly knocking over Jazz's coffee cup, and then slumped in a boneless heap on the couch completely exhausted.

"Hey! Watch the coffee!" exclaimed Jazz in a scandalized shout.

"You can get more," mumbled Amy her arm draped over her eyes as she relaxed.

"Rough day, huh?" asked Jazz sitting next to her and taking a sip of her coffee, moving her homework to the table for the time being.

"You have no idea," Amy mumbled out.

Jazz snorted into her coffee lightly. "Try me hun, I think I understand a lot more than you fully realize."

"Well my language professor wants us to finish 3 pages of translations by next class. My psychology professor wants us to keep a dream diary; apparently, he claims that dreams can tell us a lot about an individual; only problem is I never remember over half my dreams. Then my nutrition professor wants us to devise a healthy food plan for anyone looking to possibly lose weight, among other homework AND to top it all off I must have gotten lost 5 times in the process of all of this," Amy moaned actually sounding like she was in some kind of physical pain and a whole lot of horror.

Jazz quirked one of her thin shapely brows at Amy, even though she knew the tall leggy blonde couldn't see her at the present time.

"Did you not use your map?" she asked.

"That's why I got lost so much I think." She rubbed at her eyes tiredly in a half-hearted attempt to dispel away her lethargic attitude.

Jazz started to laugh at this. Amy had enough energy to lift her hands away from her face to give Jazz a cold glare. This only made Jazz laugh harder.

"I'm sorry Amy, it's just this is how college usually starts on the first day. Most of the professors are pretty understanding, of course you meet the dicks. My point is that first days are usually rough. You're just getting used to a new schedule and routine. Believe me on this, give it a month and it will feel like you've been doing this your whole life, or like me, you won't be able to wait for it to end," said Jazz, placing her coffee back down on the table and picking up her sheet that she had been looking at earlier before she had rudely busted in.

Amy just looked at Jazz shocked. Never before had she heard her friend be completely serious about something. Sure, this was only the second day of really getting to know the spritely female, but she didn't exactly expect her to be the serious type on … well….basically anything. Shaking off the feeling that Jazz didn't normally have an austere persona, she finally noticed what the short haired girl was reading. It almost appeared as if it were a script.

"What exactly are you reading?" she asked curiously as she leaned in closer.

"Oh I'm just studying this script were going to do, and its Shakespeare's Mid-Summer Night's Dream," explained Jazz.

"Oh I love that play!" exclaimed Amy completely forgetting about her bad day in the face of her friend playing one of her favorite plays of all time.

"Yeah it's pretty funny in parts that's for sure." Jazz chuckled.

"Did you ever see that on 'The Suite Life of Zack and Cody'?" asked Amy a smile lighting her face, "It's one of my all-time favorites."

At this Jazz laughed, right aloud. "Yeah I know that episode! It's also one of my favorites!"

"So who are you going to play?" asked Amy intrigued by the whole idea.

"I'm assigned Hermia," Jazz replied sticking one of her fingers near her mouth and giving the imitation of gagging.

Amy laughed at her friend's antics, "What? Don't like Hermia or something?"

"No not really, I really wanted to play Nick Bottom. You know the one that ends up with an asses head. My teacher said though that he was a guy and I argued that in Shakespeare's days men played women all the time so why couldn't I play a guy?"

"And what did he say?"

"I'm playing Hermia, remember?" Jazz stated giving her a hard look.

Amy snorted. "Right, right."

With that said, Amy grabbed onto one of her textbooks and started to flip through it doing her homework. She needed to start those translations as soon as possible, besides she didn't think she would thank herself very much if she left everything to the last minute. As long as she could finish maybe one assignment tonight, she would be ok. With that, Jazz and Amy started to work in companionable silence for the next 30 minutes through their respective workloads.

Finally, Amy closed her translation textbook and ancient dictionary at 7:00 pm gave a huge yawn, rubbing her eyes. She stretched her wrist, moving it in clockwise rotations to let out some of the kinks from her writing for so long without pause. She was about to tell Jazz that she was going to head in for an early night when a knock sounded at their door; Jazz and Amy startled somewhat and stared at it. Jazz looked towards Amy.

"Were you expecting anyone later?" she asked her.

"No," replied Amy slow and hesitant. She hadn't really made any new friends today, well except for that one guy maybe at the end of her first class that day, but could that really count? She really didn't think so for some reason.

Jazz got up from the couch and Amy sat up straighter to see who was there. Getting to the door, she swung it open; there standing on the other side of it was the same person that had picked up her textbook earlier; the boy with the kind face and wavy brown locks of hair. What was his name? Oh right, Lance, she only remembered because it reminded her of Lancelot from King Arthur's round table in Camelot.

"Oh hey, Lance," said Jazz relaxing somewhat at seeing his face.

"Jazz! How are you doing girl?" he asked her the two of them hugging. They must have met each other the previous year or something, Amy thought to herself as she took in their interaction.

"I'm great man! Props to the dolphins for playing a great game a few nights ago," exclaimed Jazz pumping the air with her fists.

"Yeah, yeah, don't rub it in Jazz, my team will beat your team one day," smirked Lance.

"Whatever man, your team sucks." She lightly punched his shoulder in jest. By now, Amy was completely lost and would probably have one of those cartoon question marks over her head if the world worked like a giant TV program.

"Hey, so I was wondering, big party at my place on Saturday night. You remember the place right? Just on the other side of the campus right outside the wall. Thought I would put together a back to school bash to celebrate everything, and our first weekend of the school year," said Lance.

"Of course I remember." Snickered Jazz. "It's only the biggest house on the hill; sheesh how anyone misses it is a mystery to me."

"Okay well be there, starts at 9 pm sharp," he replied. He looked over Jazz's head at this point and finally noticed me sitting there, probably looking disheveled with all the textbooks and papers littering the floor around me in a complete chaotic mess. I somewhat blushed from embarrassment.

"Oh, hey Aim!" Lance said his eyes brightening up at my appearance, "I didn't know you two shared a room with each other, Jazz," he said turning to look at my little friend pointedly.

"Well you never actually asked, Lance," replied Jazz in a smug tone.

"Oh come on girl, don't play those games," said Lance chuckling.

"I'm not playing any games I'm actually being dead serious," said Jazz sticking her nose in the air in an effort to appear to be taking all this incredibly seriously. "Which is a miracle when it comes to me."

Lance just snorted at her antics. "Yeah Jazz, you never take these things seriously, much less anything else."

"Touché."

"Anyways, you two both show up, okay?" said Lance, then he turned waving good-bye to them. Jazz closed the door behind him when he was out of the doorway.

"You didn't tell me you met Lance today," said Jazz sitting back on the couch her legs folded under her.

Amy shrugged. "It didn't really come up. Besides I didn't think it was that big of a deal."

"A lot of things don't generally come up in a conversation, but now I'm curious Amy, did something else happen that you haven't told me about?"

"No, why you ask?"

"Just wondering, you didn't see Missy and her little Barbie squad did you?"

Amy felt her heart slightly speed up from what Jazz had insinuated. "No, no I haven't seen her all day today." Even to Amy her own voice sounded weak.

Jazz stared at her for a second, and then she snorted and turned back to her work as if the conversation had never happened between them. She studiously began flipping pages, and writing down what appeared to be notes in red pen, in small margins on either side of the page.

"Anyways, I was going to go to bed before Lance popped in, so good night Jazz I'll see ya tomorrow."

"Okay Amy get some good sleep and yeah ill ttyl."

Amy just shook her head at Jazz's little texting talk and walked into her room. She started changing into her PJ's and climbed into bed. 'Who knows?' Amy started to think to herself as she slowly started drifting off to sleep, 'Maybe tomorrow will be an even better day. Maybe I won't run into Missy and her mean girls, and maybe I'll run into Gabe again.'

With that last comforting thought, she drifted off to sleep.

**~x~**

**The Dream**

**~x~**

Amy ran down the block of her street back home, she could notice the police cars and paramedics at her house; pounding down the sidewalk rapidly, hoping that nothing drastic had happened and that her parents were okay. Maybe, nothing had happened to them and someone had merely fainted in their home. She plagued herself by wishful thinking until she came closer to her property line and an officer attempted to hold her back from the scene.

"That's my house!" screamed Amy into the black night. The police officer seemed to look at her with pity and called over an assistant. The assistant took her over to his car.

"What happened? Are my parents okay? Was it a break in?" Amy kept spouting off questions to the poor guy. She almost tripped over the flood of questions that poured out of her like a dam that had burst.

Just as he opened his mouth to explain the paramedics were wheeling out a gurney; Amy's eyes widened; her brain not wanting to believe and process that which her eyes were clearly showing her. 'It can't be a body,' she thought to herself. Maybe she was at the wrong she thought desperately; maybe this was the wrong house or all just a horrendous nightmare. She could have made a mistake. Then the gurney bumped down from the front step and a hand fell out from underneath the sheet, limp and pale.

At that point, Amy let out an ear-splitting shriek.

**~x~**

**End of Dream**

**~x~**

Amy quickly tossed herself out of bed. The blankets caught all around her flailing arms and legs and she ended up in a crumpled heap on the floor. The door burst open with a loud bang as it smacked into the wall behind it, and Jazz came charging in. She was wearing a tank and black shorts, her hair in complete disarray. Obviously, she had woken up at hearing her screams.

"What happened?" Jazz asked startled at finding Amy on the floor tangled in her blankets.

Amy panted and started to sob on the floor; although it had been a nightmare, it unfortunately had been a true nightmare from one of her darkest memories. Jazz quickly walked over to her, and lightly started to stroke her hair down; it was knotted from her throwing herself across her blankets, tangled easily into large knots.

"Amy?" asked Jazz quietly, "is there something that you need to talk about? If not to me then to another person maybe?"

Amy quickly shook her head and got up shakily from the floor, she hobbled out of the room and into the bathroom. Taking one look at herself in the mirror she shuddered in revulsion at the sight that stared back. Her eyes were all swollen, blotchy, and red from crying so hard. She had tear tracks on her cheeks still running down her face, and her hair looked like a giant birds nest. She quickly turned on the tap and washed her face to get rid of some of the evidence of her crying. Not all of it could be erased however; the red eyes and ratty hair stayed as a testament to her strong emotion.

Jazz quietly poked her head from around the door and looked at Amy. She didn't say anything to her just quietly observed, letting Amy know in silence that she was there if she really needed to talk to someone. Amy's heart swelled with adoration at Jazz, at the quiet act of companionship and strength. She wasn't the type to push you to talk about something that you clearly didn't want to talk about, instead she would ask if you needed to but if you didn't want to it wasn't as if she would force you to. It was probably this, which made Amy so happy to have met such a girl like Jazz.

Amy turned to Jazz and quickly wrapped her arms around Jazz's neck. She squeezed her so hard trying to convey how glad she was to have her without using any words. Jazz seemed to get the message and held on to Amy just as tightly, holding her while Amy cried a little more into her shoulder. Finally, Amy seemed good enough to pull away. She did so slowly and Jazz looked at her and gave her a small sad smile as if able to feel her pain.

"You think you're okay at least for now?" she asked Amy quietly.

Amy nodded her head quickly, starting to feel her cheeks flame somewhat from the embarrassment of Jazz finding her so vulnerable. Usually she never cried in front of people, especially people she really did not know. Jazz was different though she couldn't help but wonder to herself. Never before had she felt more than comfortable around someone before.

"Well that's good," said Jazz smiling slightly, "because I think we should try to get more sleep; if I don't I know I'll end up looking and acting like Godzilla by the morning."

She laughed slightly, hiccupping as she got rid of the last of her sobs, and they slowly walked back to their separate rooms hoping to get another hour or two of sleep.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** I have to admit writing this section of the story was somewhat painful for me and it was still painful for me to read over again; I'm still glad Jazz is there to give her a hug seriously! I'm sure there will be a big soulful talk soon between these two!


	7. I Have Two Jobs And Ones A Party

A few days had passed since Amy had had the nightmare. She still felt guilty for having woken up Jazz, but she couldn't help the fact when this transpired; when those memories took over, even in her subconscious, they simply consumed her. Since then, Jazz had not mentioned the episode and Amy was grateful to her friend for not doing so. She felt that she could speak to Jazz, that wasn't what was at issue; what was, was the fact that it was hard for her to get around to doing so. She always had found it a hard and trying experience for her to open up to people, and the more she didn't know the person the higher it seemed the slippery slope they had to climb. Her past was dark and dangerous, even to herself, and she didn't want her friend to look at her as if she was a broken doll that needed to be fixed like Humpty Dumpty, or a Raggedy Anne.

Amy sighed to herself and kept working on some of the homework that she still had to do. Her professors assigned her work for Monday to be completed, at last she had a full understanding of the workload that college came with, and the constant complaints from some students.

'And it's only going to get better,' Amy grimly thought to herself.

It was just after six. Jazz had a late play practice for Midsummer Night's Dream, and had told her not to expect her for a couple of hours. Secretly that was Jazz's code sentence for "If you go out DO NOT FORGET YOUR KEY." Amy had realized that that was turning into a bad habit for her. As a way to get around that, she had started to wear the key as a necklace, fashioning it with a bit of chain and leaving it on as a precaution, even when she had no plans to leave the dorm.

"Done," Amy, said to the empty room slamming the textbook shut and placing it on the coffee table.

She turned and looked out the window behind the couch. She observed the college students walking back and forth on the grounds. Some sitting outside doing last minute work in the weakening sun, others sitting in small groups gossiping or no doubt talking about each other's first week back and the overbearing work load already they were saddled with.

'Hmm I should go for a walk,' she thought to herself. With that, she got off the couch, grabbed her black jacket from the chair, and walked out of the room.

The hall was deserted so Amy did not encounter anyone in the dorm apartments. She walked down the stairs this time, instead of bolting like she had the first day of classes, and out the front door. Brusquely walking across the grounds, she took in a deep breath of the crisp autumn air. The leaves drifting down to create splashes and puddles of red and gold, she listened to the crunch her feet made on them. She loved fall, it was probably her favorite season; she would always refer to it as the season of change.

Her thoughts had strayed off too Missy, and the rumors that seemed to follow the tall blonde, like a pack of hell hounds wherever she went. The blonde seemed to really hate her, for whatever reason Amy couldn't be quite so sure, but it bordered on something close to obsession it seemed at times which worried her. Shaking her head at the thought, she tried to banish the black cloud of negative emotions and thoughts that were swirling around her mind. While Missy was hostile in every definition of the word, she still refused to think that she was that bad. Maybe, something had happened to her that had driven her to be this way, or to act out in this fashion. This drove Jazz up the wall when Amy would try to claim this. One time Jazz purposely tried to kick Amy out of the door claiming that she would let her back in when "She Saw The Light" apparently. Amy just snorted at the thought of her friends antics.

Finally, Amy stopped in her tracks and looked up. She was standing outside of the main faculty building. Seemed her feet wanted to take her here at least. When she turned around, she saw the tree that she had first met Gabe under. Now the branches were almost completely bare of any leaves on it. That made her think of Gabe; she hadn't seen him since he had stuck up for her Monday after her first class. Amy shrugged wondering where he could have gotten, somewhere on campus obviously, but their paths hadn't crossed again for the last few days.

She walked up the steps and pushed the door open. The hallways had a few teachers walking to and fro to different offices. Some looked like they were getting prepared to leave for the night as they walked to the door with small bags, no doubt filled with school work that needed to be graded. Soon the night classes would begin and the halls would bustle with some teachers making their way to their classes, but that wouldn't be for at least another few hours at least. Amy started to silently make her way down one of the halls. Lockers lined the sides of the walls. Suddenly she could have sworn that she heard a faint whistling coming from around a corner.

She slowly tip toed to the end of the hallway and peaked around the corner to see who was there. She knew that the chances of Missy whistling were slim to none, but she still didn't want to risk the odd chance; it turned out she needn't have worried. On the other side of the corner was Gabe, mopping the floor as he was doing that same day that she had run into him. Amy smiled to herself this was the perfect time to catch up with him, and maybe possibly get some information out of him about his disappearing acts.

His back was turned to her and Amy started to make her way up from behind him. He was whistling 'It's a Small World' by the sounds of it and Amy started to laugh quietly behind him. Suddenly, he stopped whistling, mopping, and turned around to face her. His eyes slightly narrowed with suspicion but once they fell on her, they instantly lit up with brightness and warmth deep inside them. His face broke out in a huge grin that reminded Amy of a young child in a candy store.

"Hey." Amy waved to him. "Small World huh?"

Gabe laughed at her. "Yeah I suppose it is, haven't seen you around here in a while kid."

"I'm not a kid," Amy replied immediately. "What do you mean you haven't seen me? I haven't seen you since Monday, where have you been?"

Gabe laughed again at her, gazing at her gently, and winked. "It's a secret." Then he held up the mop and raised his eyebrow pointedly at it. "However, I think I have good enough reason to be around here."

"Oh come on!" Amy threw her hands up in frustration, and rolled her eyes, leaning against the lockers watching him start to mop again. "You have another job?"

"You could say that," replied Gabe in an offhand voice.

"Why so secretive, Gabe?" asked Amy in a teasing voice.

"Oh, yeah sure, so says the girl that has barely told me anything about herself," scoffed Gabe. "You know there is a large possibility that we could have just not run across each other in the last couple of days, it is a big campus after all," finished Gabe.

"Yeah, I guess that's true, but since you already admitted that you have another job that leaves me super curious about it," replied Amy. She glanced up and down the hallway still seeing that they had it to themselves.

"It's more a hobby then a job, but that's enough information for right now about me, what about your classes?" asked Gabe.

"Gabe you hardly told me anything!" whined Amy pouting at the smirking janitor. Gabe just stared at her with an eyebrow raised as if asking her "So?"

"Fine," huffed Amy as Gabe gave her a smirk. "Their not so bad honestly, and I have good professors to. Homework is a little overwhelming so far, but I guess I'll get used to that; and I have not gotten lost for the first time today! I'm very proud of that!"

Gabe laughed at that. "Yes that's always a positive when it comes to this place. I think I missed how much of a mess you monsters can make in only 24 hours," replied Gabe thoughtfully staring around the hallway at the whole floor he just mopped. "Including teachers," he said to her as he leaned closer and placed his hand up to his mouth, "their actually incredibly messy."

Amy giggled at that. "Hey I don't make too bad of a mess."

"You're the worse of all of them," said Gabe smirking.

"Fine, see if I ever talk to you again," replied Amy sticking her tongue out slightly at Gabe. It then struck her how much she was being carefree with this man. That was odd. He even seemed to be taking it at face value like how she was acting was perfectly normal, or maybe she was, and she just thought she was acting strange. Never before had she felt this strong urge to be herself and let her hair down, so to speak.

Gabe just laughed at the look on her face and pulled out of his pocket another chocolate bar. 'Wow does this guy own a whole candy shop or something?' Amy thought to herself. It seemed like he was always chowing down on some type of candy whenever she had seen him. Albeit she had only caught up with him, less than a handful of times but each time he would pull out a chocolate bar.

"So you have poor direction I take it?" He took another bite as he waited for her response, leaning against the mop.

"Hmm? Oh, yeah, I'm absolutely horrible with it. I could get lost in a cardboard box if you let me." She shrugged her shoulders. "I just end up horribly turned around in new locations."

Gabriel nodded at that. "So any plans for the weekend?" he asked non-chalantly after he had taken a bite of his Mars bar.

Amy sighed. "Well, Jazz wants to drag me to this party on Saturday night, but I'm not sure I want to go yet."

"Why not?" asked Gabe sounding scandalized by her not wanting to go, "There's booze and women and more booze or if you're into the whole guy thing, then there's some pretty hot guys there too I guess, not to mention the loud music and you never know what could happen," he replied waggling his eyebrows.

Amy just stared at him; her eyes had to be bulging from her head, since Gabe started to mimic her. They both stared at each other for another few seconds then simultaneously burst out laughing.

"Ahh glad to see you can take a joke now, kiddo." Gabe chuckled with mirth wiping his eyes of any stray laughter tears, "well that's when I went to college, stuff like that was in, and I'm assuming that things haven't really changed so live and let live girl!"

"Maybe, but drinking and parties aren't really my thing," Amy said quietly scuffing the toe of her sneaker against the tile floor.

"Well maybe try it, I mean you don't have to drink, but just go if you want and check it out; you never know I guess until you just see it with your own eyes," Gabe offered her as advice clapping a gentle hand on her shoulder.

Amy looked at him and nodded lightly smiling at him as she did so. Gabe nodded to her and then finished the last of his chocolate bar and stuffed the wrapper in his pocket. At that precise moment, a bell rang to signal that that period of classes had finished. Amy startled, she had been down here talking to Gabe for a full hour? Wow. The time had really flown and she hadn't even noticed its passing.

"I should get going, Jazz might be back in our dorm room by now," Amy said to Gabe.

He nodded to her. "Okay Aim, good afternoon and remember what I said, just try it; college life is full of new experiences you never know what you may or may not like. My offer still stands that day we met though, if you ever need to talk I'm here just gotta find me," he told her winking at her.

Amy nodded to him again and with a final wave turned around and started to walk the way she had come; she heard his whistling begin again as it followed her out of the building.

When she had gotten back to the dorm Jazz looked as if she had beaten her there by at the most a few minutes. She was slumped face down all over the couch and looked exhausted. Amy walked over to her and lightly shook her shoulder. Her friend jump-started and almost fell off.

"I'm sorry!" exclaimed Amy.

"Oh Amy, it's just you, not its okay really," answered Jazz, "I'm just bushed from the practice."

"Rough one or…?" asked Amy trailing off.

"It just kind of sucked over all, you know one of those kinds of days," Jazz replied rolling her eyes.

"Yeah I hear ya; that was like my Monday," said Amy sitting on the chair next to the couch and resting her chin on her hand.

"Don't think just because I'm bushed right now we are not going to that party tomorrow night though," Jazz warned her as she pointed a threatening finger up at her in her general location.

"Jazz-"

"No, Amy, no buts," Jazz quickly overrode her and holding up a full hand this time, in the imitation of a stop talking. She sat up and looked at her threateningly. "Just try it; you never know what you'll like."

At this, Amy stared at Jazz in astonishment; those were the exact words Gabe had used. Jazz noticed her staring and looked at her confused her head cocking to the side just slightly.

"What?" asked Jazz in a confused tone of voice.

"Oh nothing." Amy sighed rolling her shoulders. "Okay fine, I'll go, but only if we don't get separated and I can leave whenever I please."

Jazz jumped up from the couch and started to do a jig in the middle of their dorm. Amy laughed at her display. "Okay, okay, yeah rub it in!"

"I will!" exclaimed Jazz, "I've been working on this all week to try and get you to go with me! What exactly made you change your mind?" asked Jazz.

Amy shrugged again. "I guess just the whole trying new experiences thing, maybe?"

"Good enough for me," said Jazz a brilliant smile lighting up her whole face. "Well I'm going to head to bed then so I can be extremely well rested for tomorrow night! Do not wake me up until I get up myself! Unless it is an emergency and that means if the cafeteria is all of a sudden serving smores, other than that don't come in my room; or ill throw you out the window!"

"Um, Jazz? Isn't it a little too early too-"she trailed off though as Jazz had disappeared into her room and shut the door with a quick snap.

She shrugged, and continued sitting on the chair still wondering how she got herself into this. Standing up she walked to the window to watch outside. As she sat on the top of the couch, she saw Gabe walk out of one of the doors and across the campus. He walked into another door and disappeared from Amy's line of sight.

'There's still something odd about him, I just can't place my finger on it,' Amy couldn't help still thinking to herself, as slowly the sun began to set in the distance.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** I love these two when they meet. Very soon, guys Gabriel will be up to his old tricks again. He kind of is already it is just not on the campus quite yet but very soon!


	8. A Revelation of the Same Gender

It was Saturday night; and Amy couldn't help but have some before party jitters. Her and Jazz had about 30 minutes before the party started and Amy was having last minute jitterbugs about going. That whole day she toiled with the idea of should she just skip it and not go, or take Gabe's advice and at least risk it and try it at least once? Finally Amy somehow managed to convince herself to go and try it, and then if her kids later on in life, if she ever had any, had asked about parties, she could at least recount to them a true story and not say that their mom had chickened out.

Well that was if they ever made it to the party in the first place; by the way Jazz was going Amy could have walked all the way to New York and back. Jazz was currently in the bathroom trying to figure out which outfit would look best for the night. She had driven her up the wall with asking her if she should style her hair or not. When Amy had pointed out that her hair was already pretty short and there wasn't much she could do with it anyway, Jazz had thrown a pillow at her face, screeching that that was the master piece, and if that wasn't just right she was doomed to fail. Jazz came back out to the sitting room wearing a deep green emerald robe that matched her eyes.

"Okay, which one do you think?" asked Jazz holding up both outfits on separate hangers so Amy could see them again for the fiftieth time already. "The one with the blue half top and dark wash jeans with my tan boots, it says I'm cool and stylish. On the other hand, the one with the red V-neck tank top and black jeans along with my black thigh high boots? It says I'm dangerous and one hot passionate cat!"

Amy stared at Jazz in absolute disbelief, who honestly did this? Amy stared at both outfits anyways; in an effort to give her friend the benefit of the doubt and tried to stomach this. This had to be how men felt when they went with their wives, or girlfriends, shopping. She was beginning to sympathize; however, that had been an hour ago, now she just needed to leave.

"I think you should go with the blue one. The black and red one seems like too much for so early in the year."

Jazz stared at both of the outfits again, chewing her lip as she digested what she had said once again. "Yeah, your right. I think I'll go with the red one." With that Jazz flounced back into the bathroom to change.

Amy stared at the closed door in complete disbelief her mouth opened in a wide scandalized 'o'. Then she snapped her mouth closed, rolled her eyes, and snorted in amusement going back to reading her textbook before Jazz had come barging in.

A few minutes later Jazz was ready to leave, Amy put her textbook down on the small table and stood up. She grabbed her coat, made sure her key was around her neck and secure, and then they both left the dorm.

The night was slightly cold with a faint breeze blowing through the trees along the campus, making whispering noises as they walked through the skeleton like branches overhead. Night was coming faster and faster at this time, only the last pieces of sun were visible, but darkness was descending rapidly. They walked across the field at the back of their dorm. Finally, coming to the other side and began walking down a lonely street. While it may have been quiet, it was a small ritzy area. The houses were large, with wide sweeping lawns, and some even had big gates to bar the entrance in case of trespassers.

Jazz saw me looking around with my eyes wide open and my mouth dropped down to the floor for the second time that night. She reached over and placed her pointer finger underneath my chin to close it shut. I startled and looked at her. In the glow of the street lamps that we would pass under, she shot me a grin.

"Yeah I know the feeling," stated Jazz, "I was the exact same way when I came to my first Lance party with my friend, just last year."

"Who was your other friend?" Amy asked Jazz quietly, quite curious. She hadn't really heard Jazz mention other friendships; maybe in passing but not in depth.

"Ahh not someone worth mentioning I don't think," said Jazz hastily. "Besides things happened and she stopped being my friend, she hasn't been one in years and I don't think she ever will be again," said Jazz looking down at the side walk silently.

Amy instantly felt guilty. She hadn't meant to upset Jazz, and had she realized it would have been such a sensitive topic for her small friend, she wouldn't have mentioned it to begin with.

"I'm sorry, Jazz," said Amy in a completely sincere voice, "If I would have known-"

"Nah don't bother being sorry, Amy," said Jazz quickly. Suddenly a bright smile lit up her face, which seemed like it should not be there given the circumstances. "Besides it was a year ago and it's getting better now somewhat so nothing to be worried about!"

With that, Jazz got bouncy like her usual self bobbing along beside her as they lapsed into companionable silence once more. Before the silence could really take effect, she suddenly started to bounce up and down right on the spot like a jackrabbit. "Oh, oh, there it is Amy!" Jazz exclaimed pointing at the end of the street to a huge house.

The house sat up on a huge hill. It had to be three stories and massive, easily covering a block by the looks of it. It had huge black wrought iron gates, which were spread wide, a wide open invitation for the party guests; a driveway led from the street to the very front of the house, where a small square, with a fountain, stood before the front doors. Amy and Jazz started to walk through the gate and up the smoothly paved drive. All around them college kids were drinking, some were even passed out on the lawns, and others seemed to be carrying out furniture that looked to be extremely expensive. Obviously, they were all pretty wasted, and the party had only just begun.

Inside the house all the lights were on, on the main floor. From outside you could see the people dancing through the huge windows that reached up to the ceiling. The hum of the music was deafening from the outside and it seemed the lights flickered different colours every once in a while inside. 'Probably a disco ball or strobe lights or something,' Amy thought to herself.

Jazz and Amy finally got through the front door and looked around. Drunken guys and girls were everywhere. Some were passed out on the few remaining pieces of furniture still in the room, and Amy had to wonder how long it would be until the other drunken people would just carry the furniture out with the people still sitting in them passed out. Probably not long, considering how everything was escalating quickly. Others were passed out on the stairs or anywhere they could find that they wouldn't be crushed by the mob.

Everyone else was dancing and gyrating to the music, and Amy couldn't help but shiver out of pure nerves at being in such a place. Almost all the people were holding cups of something and she couldn't fight the uneasy feeling that began to crawl up from the pits of her stomach. She had never been around so many drunken people before in her life and it slightly scared her; fully realizing at that moment that she was completely out of her element.

Jazz noticed her uneasiness and grabbed her hand. Amy slightly jumped and turned to stare at her friend.

"I'm here Amy! Don't worry I won't let anyone bother you!" she shouted out over the music and loud voices. Amy heard her and nodded in gratification, showing that she appreciated the sweet gesture.

They walked through the crowds still holding hands, so that they wouldn't become separated by the press of sweaty, alcohol soaked bodies. Amy wrinkled her nose at the strong stench that seemed to exude from the people; it reminded her of bitter, sweet tasting grapes, mixed with hand sanitizer, and it made her almost want to gag on the spot.

"Let's try to find Lance!" Jazz shouted again over the crowd.

So with that, they both started to search throughout the crowd looking for Lance, pushing and prodding people away from them as they needed; unfortunately for them they didn't run into Lance first; they accidentally found Missy and her entourage. She took one look at their joined hands and a nasty scowl spread across her face.

"Well, well, if it isn't the little misfits again," said Missy amid snickers while raising one of her perfectly groomed eyebrows. She lifted her red plastic cup in a mock toast towards the two of them as her tongue licked her upper lip.

"Back off, Missy we're looking for someone," snarled Jazz loud enough for her and all her so-called "friends" to hear.

"What surprises me is however you two were invited to a party like this?" Missy said in a completely shocked voice.

"Well, Lance gets along with everyone," said Jazz, "unfortunately he's also nice to bimbos such as yourself."

Amy looked at Jazz shocked by her friend's hostility and brashness. While part of her was shouting at her that Missy deserved everything she got, an even larger part didn't want to see people arguing in front of her, or with anyone. Missy stared at Jazz and a cruel, cold, calculating smile slowly spread over her face. It reminded Amy of the way a hyena might slowly smile, or a serial killer, and it felt like an icy cold hand had stroked her up her spine at the chilling smile.

"So, Jazz is Amy your new girlfriend? I knew you liked them young looking but I never would have thought your taste stooped this low," said Missy in a haughty tone of voice so everyone could hear.

The others around Missy had gone extremely silent and Jazz's hand tightened in a bruising grip around Amy's fingers. She wanted to flinch away from Jazz's grip but didn't dare too when it seemed Missy was watching them avidly for anything to help fuel her undeserved disgust at the two of them.

"What do you mean? Jazz isn't gay."

Missy got that horrible look on her face again. "Oh Jazz, you mean you haven't told her yet!" asked Missy in fake shock. She held up a dainty hand to her chest and looked at her askance.

"Shut up, Missy," Jazz really snarled at her now.

"You see Amy, Jazz is actually a lesbian, ask her and see if she denies it," said Missy in a confident voice and she leaned back on the couch like a queen sitting on her royal throne. She had the kind of smile that reminded Amy of the cat that ate the canary.

Amy turned and looked at Jazz shocked. "Is it true?"

Jazz wouldn't look at her; she seemed to have trained her eyes on the wall in the corner.

"Oh my god it is!" Amy exclaimed. She yanked her hand out of Jazz's grasp, and raised it to her mouth. At this, Jazz turned around to Amy and started to plead with her.

"Please, Amy don't! I was going to tell you very soon I promise you that! I was just scared that you would judge me for it and that you wouldn't feel uncomfortable and think harshly of me! I just wanted your acceptance one hundred percent before I said anything to you," Jazz said quickly, pleading, tears brimming in her eyes.

Amy couldn't take it; the amount of eyes staring at them, Missy's cold, cruel smirk plastered over her face, as she watched her unravel right in front of her. And while she didn't want to give what the blonde queen seemed to so desperately need, she couldn't shake the shock flooding through her system. Slowly shaking her head, she turned around, and bolted away through the crowd. She could hear Jazz's faint calls of her name but she paid them no heed. Finally, she bolted out of the mansion and took off down the driveway. Amy didn't stop running until she made it to the dorm. She quickly bolted into her room locked it and sat on her bed with her head in her hands.

A few minutes later, she heard Jazz return. Footsteps sounded outside of her door, and for a second Amy thought Jazz was going to knock. Then the footsteps turned around and another door closed. Amy lied down on her own bed she didn't bother to take off her clothes and change; instead, she drifted into an uneasy sleep with unsettling dreams.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Well that was quite a switcheroo. That's not any way for someone to be told something like that though I have to admit. Amy does have a tendency to react badly though -.- Anyways hope you enjoyed!


	9. Some Friendly Advice

Amy woke up the following morning; slowly sitting up she stretched and winced as she rubbed the back of her neck. She felt as if she had drifted in and out of sleep all last night, knowing that she had fallen asleep but that it was incredibly restless. While she hadn't remembered her dreams, she could only imagine that she had been in a repeating movie of what had happened last night at the party. Rubbing her eyes, she slowly got to her feet and decided that maybe if she went for a walk around campus it would help clear her mind, and air out all those thoughts that seemed to try and poison her from the inside.

Grabbing her black button up coat, she glanced out the window to see the sun just beginning to peak up on the horizon. The sky turning a beautiful shade of orange and pink as the golden rays shined out. It looked silent out on the grounds, no wind, and more importantly no students. Everyone was probably still asleep after last night; she had no doubt the whole school may have been there. Putting her runners on she closed the door quietly so as not to disturb Jazz in the next room.

The cool autumn breeze fully woke her, jolting her senses into awareness and breathing freshness into her body. Damp leaves and the earthy smells of autumn met her; a small shower of rain must have happened last night as small puddles were placed around the sidewalk; probably the last one of the year. She had to admit to herself that it really was a beautiful time of the year, but now with all the leaves almost gone from the surrounding trees fall had lost some of its beauty and splendor, now the skeletons of the trees appeared like ugly twisted fingers groping towards the sky, as if reaching for divine mercy.

She started to walk slowly down the sidewalk, kicking some leaves that ended up in her path. The sky was partly cloudy, small wisps seemingly to hang stationery in the sky. She came to the center court of the whole campus. The fountain that usually sat here and would spill water elegantly over its sides had been stopped. Benches surrounded all sides of the fountain and Amy noticed a man sitting at one of them.

He was sitting hunched over, his hands clasped in his lap, and his slightly long ginger hair was waving in the faint breeze that seemed to have picked up. Amy became giddy when she recognized the man as Gabe. Perfect, she needed someone to talk to about all of this and who better than him? Maybe he could give her some helpful input.

Walking slowly up to the bench, she sat next to Gabe. He startled slightly as if he was in deep thought before she had walked up, and looked up at her. When he noticed whom it was his face broke out into a wide grin. Amy couldn't help her answering grin.

"Mind if I join you?"

"Well, if it isn't Amy." Gabe chuckled. "Not at all! What's wrong? Library closed? I would have thought that you would be there studying more."

Amy snorted and punched his arm lightly. "I don't study all the time Gabe, just when I have to, which happens to be like every day."

"Ahh the joys of college," sighed Gabriel staring off into the distance, "one hell of a torture that hell should think of allowing."

"As if you know what hell is really like," scoffed Amy. "We could already be living it."

"Well I wouldn't say that I am an exact expert but I like to think that I could guess a thing or two." Gabe winked at Amy. "And from my professional view point we are not in hell. Just a really good clone."

"Whatever," Amy replied rolling her eyes and snorting in amusement.

"So something tells me you didn't come out here to talk about the supposed tortures of hell, even though I'm sure that is a fascinating subject, but seriously what's on your mind girl?" asked Gabe. He leaned back on the bench and casually draped his arm along the back.

"Well I went to that party that me and you were talking about in the hallway a few nights ago, remember?" asked Amy.

"Hmm you got invited to that party on the hill, that that hot dude was hosting I take it, and he invited you I'm guessing?" asked Gabe back at her.

Amy looked at him for a second. "How did you know-"

"Oh everyone knows that house on the hill has the supposed best parties, and how Lance lives up there on his own," shrugged Gabe, "besides kids talk, so it's their word not mine, but I'm not above admitting when someone's hot even if it is a guy." Gabe raised his eyebrows at her. It was almost as if that was the biggest issue to him, and not the fact that she still found it strange that he had known that. People do talk, but she found that a long stretch to believe that he picked it up around lockers that she was going. No one would look at her twice, or care that she was going. Well…except Jazz, and she had a really good reason to believe that Jazz wouldn't want to talk to her for a while, if ever again.

Amy rolled her eyes again. "Too much information Gabe, and way to early."

"Whatever you say darling," said Gabe rubbing the bridge of his nose. "So as you were saying about this party? What happened? Did you like it?"

"Well, I mean, it started off okay, but I don't know, I guess I felt a bit uncomfortable…" Amy trailed off staring at one of the buildings across the courtyard. "Hey Gabe, can I ask you something, or for advice I guess?"

Gabe had been in the process of peeling another chocolate bar wrapper in his hand as she asked the question. It was a testament to how well Amy was becoming used to his strange antics, she didn't remark about his chocolate addiction; although he really shouldn't be ingesting anything like that right at sun rise.

"Ask away, Aim and I'll see what I can do for you," replied Gabe before taking a big bite of his chocolate bar.

"Well yesterday at the party me and my friend ran across some of these girls and lets start by putting it this way, were not all fond of each other." Amy shrugged looking down at her sneakers.

Gabe chewed slowly, and then swallowed the whole piece he had been eating completely. "Have you ran across these girls before? I mean, have they tried anything against you before?"

"Well…no…I mean, yeah but Gabe it's really not a big issue," said Amy quickly, "I just don't know what to do about what the lead girl said."

"And what did she say?" asked Gabe.

Was it just her? Or did it seem that Gabe's eyes had looked like they had sparked with a bright, golden light, and his voice seemed to become more sinister? Amy shook her head, banishing the chills that had crept up her arms. She rubbed absentmindedly at the goose bumps popping up under her coat, as she felt the hairs on her arms stand straight up. 'No it's just me,' Amy thought to herself.

"Well she told me, and everyone sitting there, that my friend is gay," said Amy quietly.

"And what did you do?" asked Gabe quietly.

"I…I….Gabe, I panicked!" Amy cried out, "I didn't know what to say, or how to take it and I just ran! I haven't even talked to my friend yet!"

Gabe sighed to himself and chucked his chocolate bar into the trash beside them.

"You shouldn't have run away from her, Amy," said Gabe gently, "how do you think she felt right there? Her biggest secret was just blown around like candy that falls out of a piñata, and she needed you there to lean on, and you took off. Now you haven't talked to her and that's just going to make things worse."

'Trust Gabe to make another candy reference in such a serious talk as this one,' Amy thought to herself; but he was right she conceded. She shouldn't have run away from Jazz, and in her time of need, at the very least, she should talk to her, so that this could be put behind them.

"What do I say to her though?" asked Amy quietly.

"Well, do you think this girl is trustworthy?" asked Gabe looking at Amy with warm eyes.

"Well, yeah I do! She's so nice and sweet and she's really helped me out a lot Gabe, I don't know what I would do without her here!"

"Then go talk to her, and maybe tell her something about you that you haven't yet," suggested Gabe. "It doesn't have to be anything big! No! But I think she would feel better if maybe you opened up to her and just told her that you're comfortable with the way she is, and just because Missy starts something up like this, does not mean they are going to get in between your guys' friendship." Gabe smiled brightly at Amy.

"Thanks Gabe!" Amy smiled and gave him a tight hug. "I think I'll go right now and see if she's up, I mean she might be already so I should go before she disappears."

"Alright kiddo, good luck!" said Gabe, "oh and tell me how it goes! I want to know if I am a good advice guru or not," finished Gabe winking at her.

Amy snorted and turned to walk away. She got maybe three paces and then thought of something, turning around to ask Gabe she noticed that he was still sitting there, rooting around for another chocolate bar it seemed.

"Hey Gabe?" asked Amy.

Gabe looked up at her, "Either you already talked to her, and that was fast girl, props to you. Or I'm thinking this is more likely that you haven't and you need to ask me something else."

"Yeah, umm, how did you know about Missy?"

Gabe quirked one of his eyebrows at her. "What do you mean?"

"Well I've never mentioned her name before to you, so how would you know that it was her?" Amy asked her eyebrows furrowing in slight confusion.

Gabe scoffed and waved one of his hands at her.

"Missy is like the ultimate mean girl I hear about in this school, believe me she's done a lot of nasty stuff," said Gabe, "besides like I said earlier kid, word gets around and college is a huge gossip mill at the best of times; you wold be surprised what people say around janitors, or just anyone who they perceive as no threat."

Amy nodded at him. "Okay, well thanks again, and have a good day!"

"You to Aim!"

With that, Amy turned and started to walk back across the campus. She walked quickly just to make sure she that Jazz didn't sneak out before she had the chance to make things straight with her. Gabe was right, she had to tell her why she had reacted so poorly last night; and just because she didn't have a great past when it came to interacting with gay people, didn't mean she should lump Jazz in that same circle.

She got to her dorm room in record time and took the key from around her neck. Slowly she inserted the small object and turned the lock, it clicked lightly. She took a deep breath and walked into the room.

The room was exactly as she had left it. Suddenly a small girl walked from the hallway into the room. Jazz took one look at Amy and turned beat red; she looked down at the floor and started to turn around.

"I'm sorry, I'll just go back to bed-"mumbled Jazz trailing off.

"No wait!" Amy said quickly, "We have to talk Jazz please, and I think I need to tell you some things to."

Jazz turned around to look at Amy. "Alright then let's talk."


	10. BFF!

Jazz and Amy made their way to the couch and sat down on opposite ends. Amy turned her head and looked out at the students milling about on the campus lawns enjoying the nice weather outside. She paused for a few seconds in an effort to order her thoughts; biting her lip and twisting her hands in her lap, she finally turned to face Jazz. However, before she could say one word, Jazz beat her to the punch.

"Umm Amy if you feel uncomfortable with me now, I was going to say that I'll get a transfer into another dorm so this doesn't turn out awkward," Jazz rushed the words out, almost tripping over them in her haste to spit them out.

Amy sat there stunned for a second then quickly started to shake her head at her friend.

"No!" exclaimed Amy. Jazz jumped slightly, startled by Amy's outburst. She quickly cleared her throat and blushed somewhat at her exclamation, even if she was just saying no; and not intending to yell at Jazz.

"I mean," she stammered, "Jazz, I don't want you to move out, besides that would hardly be fair and just because Missy is being completely rude to you does not mean I want to be like her. I don't have any problem with whoever you want to date and I absolutely mean that!"

Jazz stared at Amy for a while as if to gauge if she was being entirely sincere. Finally, her face cracked into a bright grin and she reached over and hugged Amy, squeezing her slightly. Amy was taken aback by her friend's actions but quickly reciprocated.

"Thank you, Amy," said Jazz sounding relieved, "I was actually really scared you were going to judge me for this, and that you would stop being my friend because of this issue. I've seen many people lose the people they were closest too over this issue, I just didn't want to lose you as my friend."

"No never Jazz! You accepted me for who I was and stuck up for me! I haven't done much to help you lately when it comes to Missy but at the least I can do this!" said Amy heatedly.

Jazz nodded her head at her. "So are we done here then? Were cool right?"

Amy nodded back at Jazz. "Yeah were cool Jazz, but were not quite done yet."

Jazz stared at Amy slightly puzzled. "Okay umm what else did you want to talk about then?"

"Well I haven't been entirely truthful with you either Jazz, and I wanted to clear the air around us a bit."

Jazz slowly nodded again. "You know girl, you don't have to tell me anything you're not ready to. I don't want you to do it just because you feel like you have to pay me back for what happened the other night. That's no way to build a friendship."

"No Jazz, that's the thing, I do trust you otherwise I wouldn't be telling you this right now," said Amy wringing her hands out in her lap.

"Okay girl, so what's up? Gonna explain those freaky dreams of yours?"

Amy nodded and took a deep breath.

"First off, I think we should start with my age, I'm actually not 17," said Amy.

Jazz furrowed her brow slightly at her in confusion. "But I thought you said your birthday just passed a few days ago?"

"Well it did, I didn't lie about that exactly, it's just how old I am I lied about." Amy winced at that small confession, feeling her stomach twisting in knots. Was it possible to jump out of your skin?

Jazz nodded encouraging her to continue.

"I'm actually 15, I was still 14 when I got here," said Amy quietly.

Jazz's eyebrows skyrocketed into her hairline. "Wait, I'm sorry, for a second there I thought you told me that your actually 15 years old," said Jazz in a disbelieving tone of voice.

Amy nodded her head staring at her knees. It was quiet for a while then…

"THAT IS SO FREAKIN AWESOME!" shouted Jazz at the top of her lungs.

Amy startled and jumped a foot in the air and stared at Jazz with her mouth hanging open. Jazz had got up and was bouncing up and down holding her arms up as if she was king of the world or that she had just won the lottery.

"I always knew you were different Amy! I mean, and don't take offense to anything I say right now, but you always kind of struck me as a small, scared, and slightly immature maybe, ten year old at times. You were so paralyzed by Missy and her gang the first time we came across them. Also your very meek and timid, almost as if you lack a certain confidence about yourself that comes with age. I kind of had a suspicion but I never had any idea that it was that big of an age difference!" Jazz stared at her still in open eyed shock. "I mean, your parents raised you good, its nothing like that, it's just some stuff comes with years, there's only so much you can learn from books."

As soon as Jazz had mentioned parents, Amy seemed to shrink in on herself. Jazz noticed immediately and instantly sobered up.

"Amy, what's wrong? Is it about your parent's?" she asked quietly sitting next to her and placing her hand on her shoulder, rubbing it comfortingly on her back.

Amy nodded her head but still didn't want to look up.

"Umm about a year ago now, there was a terrible accident," Amy choked out her eyes starting to tear up. Jazz rubbed Amy's back lightly in an effort to try to soothe her friend.

"What happened? Do you want to tell me?" asked Jazz.

Amy was silent for a while; then steeled herself for what she was about to tell Jazz.

"A year ago, I was walking around my neighborhood, I had a really big test coming up and I just needed some fresh air, well when I came back around to my block, I could see cop cars pulled up to a house and a small crowd of people standing around," said Amy quietly. Jazz did not say a word, choosing to let Amy tell her story at her own pace.

"I ran up the block," continued Amy, "and I found that the cops were at my place. I was let in and they were wheeling out a body bag," Amy choked at her own words and had to stop. Jazz kept on stroking her back and she gave her a hug to try and soothe the bad memory that was flooding her mind as she recounted the details.

"Amy, you don't have to talk about this girl if you don't want to, I would completely understand," said Jazz.

"No," she replied vehemently, "I need to be able to talk to someone about this, and I know this may sound stupid because I haven't known you very long, but I trust you!" She continued on when she had regained some control over her voice. "I lost both of my parents that night and I went to live with my grandmother who lived not too far away from us," said Amy rubbing at her eyes. "I later found out that my dad was having an affair with this guy and that he had promised him that he was going to leave my mom for this other man."

At this Jazz tensed lightly and Amy grabbed on to her so that she couldn't pull away from her and give her space. Jazz shifted uncomfortably but then relaxed again against her and didn't pull away or attempt to.

"My mom and dad, I was told, got over their differences and saw a councillor and things became better! But that man never took the rejection my dad laid down on him good, and he came back and killed them!" Amy cried out.

"Jazz just as soon as my family was coming back together someone ripped it apart!" By now, Amy was balling on the couch and Jazz was floored by Amy's confessions. Never before would she have thought that this girl was carrying around so much baggage inside of her.

"Amy, I don't understand how you can even stand me to be honest or be near me," said Jazz softly stroking Amy's head.

Amy sniffled and looked up to her friend. "What do you mean?" Her big blue eyes were watering as she looked at Jazz.

"Well I may not be that same guy but I come from the same group of people," said Jazz.

"No Jazz you don't," Amy said furiously, "You are a good person and just because you're a lesbian does not mean that you are the same as that man that did this to my family! He was a murderer and you're not that is why I can stand you. Not everyone is like him and I can't judge you based solely on because you prefer girls over guys that wouldn't be fair," said Amy. "Besides it's ignorant to judge everyone based on the actions of only one or a few. I just panicked yesterday; it had nothing to do with any idea that I wanted nothing to do with you."

Jazz was starting to cry at Amy now. "Thanks Aim." She wiped some tears from her eyes that were threatening to over spill and fall down her cheeks.

With that, the two friends held each other and cried into each other's shoulder for the pain that they had been keeping back, glad that someone had heard them and accepted them finally. Jazz then got up and went to get her backpack to bring into the living room to study and sit in each other's company for a bit. Then Amy thought of something to herself and asked Jazz.

"Hey Jazz, how did Missy know that about you?" asked Amy, "she doesn't seem the type that you would talk to."

Jazz froze slightly at the beginning of the hallway; slowly she turned to look at Amy.

Jazz slowly turned around and looked at her. "Well I can't exactly keep this from you, not after you've been so honest and trusting of me now can I?! Missy used to be my best friend, when I told her that I had a crush on her, she flipped and started to call me a freak among other things," replied Jazz shrugging her shoulders slightly.

Amy's mouth dropped open in disbelief, and Jazz had to chuckle at her reaction. "Don't worry; everyone would have that same reaction I think." Jazz laughed walking into her room.

Amy rubbed her forehead as she felt a headache coming on; she couldn't say it surprised her so much, especially after she put all their episodes together. Still it did have a certain shock factor in and of itself.

Before Jazz got back into the room she made a silent vow to herself. From here on she would learn to toughen up, as best as she could. Sure, she was still young, but there were things she could accomplish now; one of them being was to start helping Jazz. The small girl had only modeled, strength, kindness and passion to her so far; and she was surprised that it motivated her into becoming tougher, for not just herself but for the people around her whom she cared about.

Amy turned on the couch, looked out the window, and saw Gabe standing in front of her dorm building. She was slightly startled at his appearance then waved down at him. He noticed her and waved back at her, then turned on his heel and walked away. It was almost as if he was checking up on her to make sure things had went good.

Before Amy could ponder it, Jazz flounced back into the room with all of her stuff and started to talk to Amy non-stop. Before they knew it, hours had passed and they decided to get some sleep. Amy never once thought again about Gabe, and how he seemed to be turning up in the oddest of places unexpectedly, before she drifted off into one of the most peaceful sleeps she had yet since coming here.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Well I'm glad those two talked everything out! And is it just me or does it seem Amy might be growing up a little bit? I guess everyone will have to wait and see! : p


	11. Hallows Eve on the Way

Things really shaped up after the talk between Jazz and Amy. As a result, the two had been closer, almost joined at the hip if they didn't have separate classes that is; and Amy had kept her word to Jazz. She wasn't uncomfortable around her friend at all, since sharing what she had. Jazz had had slight fears for a few days after that talk, but when she realized that Amy had been sincere in all ways about what she had said, she relaxed again and was back to her chirpy self as always.

Classes seemed to be flying to Amy. The workloads were hard but it helped her stay busy. She hardly had any bad dreams over these last couple of nights since she was too exhausted to dream about anything it seemed; and while that meant her dream diary assignment suffered for it, she would rather have taken these kinds of nights over dreams any day, even if it meant her mark suffered slightly. Jazz would always complain about dancing hippos in her dream and Amy would just snort at this continuing with whatever she was working on, or reading.

It was late October now, and Halloween was quickly approaching; Jazz was particularly excited about this, constantly reminding her nonstop as the days slowly ticked by. More and more, her friend would be buzzing around the dorm, putting out a small jack-o-lantern here and there.

"Oh come on Amy! It's HALLOWEEN!" she exclaimed exuberantly, "you know, the holiday where people are forced to feed me candy so that they don't feel guilty." Jazz was hopping around Amy as they made their way back from their classes. Today their classes were practically right next door to each other, which in turn meant she had the pleasure of witnessing her friend's hyper mode full force a whole 15 minutes early.

Amy laughed and turned to her friend. "And your how old? Jeez even I have a better excuse than you do!"

"Awesome, then I'll just make you go up to the door and say "Trick or Treat" for me? How's that sound?" Jazz beamed up at her. "What your only 15, right? You can get away with it."

"How about not happening." Amy smiled and continued following the crowd.

Jazz pouted and stuck her bottom lip out. "Jeez you're no fun." She sulked then as she kicked the toe of her shoe against the tile.

"Besides Jazz, who in their right mind would ever give you candy?" asked Amy.

"Well there is this old lady down the street that always-"

"I'm sorry I asked," Amy cut her off before she could go into more detail.

Jazz smirked at her friend and they walked in silence for a little while. Suddenly, a familiar blond head and chattering voices broke through the fall din, as they came outside of the building they had just been traveling through.

"Oh no, blond bimbo at 12 o'clock," muttered Jazz. By now, Amy had become used to her friend's insults of Missy; and now knowing the whole back-story between them, she couldn't really feel sorry for the girl.

Speaking of the devil, Missy sauntered up with her other wannabe's and gave Jazz a once over.

"If it isn't the geek squad stinking up my air again," sniffed Amy as if her air really did smell foul, "favorite holiday coming up for you two I bet, I mean you can go out dressed just the way you are and no one would be any the wiser."

Laughter twittered around Missy at her insult to Jazz and Amy. Amy wanted to roll her eyes at the callous way Missy had presented that, but she could feel her little friend practically humming with energy beside her, and bit the inside of the cheek. Jazz probably wouldn't thank her whatsoever for ruining this most opportune moment for her.

Jazz gave Missy an extremely haughty look. "Oh so what are you going as Missy? A blonde headed, bullying, bimbo? Jeez, your costume looks fabulous by the way! Oops! My mistake this is you, everyday!" countered Jazz laughing stupidly at her own joke to mock the other girls around Missy. Amy couldn't help the snort that made it past her as her friend continued mocking the girls in front of them. Sometimes, or all the time, she really had to love Jazz.

Missy scowled at Jazz and took a threatening step forward. "Watch your mouth you little tramp or I might just-"

"You might just do what exactly?" countered Amy completely over riding what Missy was saying. "And I don't think you have the right to call anyone a tramp with how you walk around this school."

Missy stared at Amy, as the other girls gasped and tittered to each other, clearly no one, including herself, had been expecting anyone to say anything. Never before had Amy stood up to Missy, or any bully for that matter, this was all new ground to her.

"Oh now you're brave all of a sudden?" hissed Missy.

"Yeah, I am Missy! You can't boss or bully me around anymore, and we don't like rude people around us so if you have nothing to say, don't say anything at all!" exclaimed Amy. "So back the hell off. Because I feel the exact same way about you, you're stinking up my air as well!"

A small group of students had stopped to stare at the confrontation taking place with the group of girls. Missy seemed to have noticed that to, for her eyes started to dance around and she seemed to be losing her cool. It seemed like when things weren't working out how she planned them to she fell apart under the pressure. Suddenly, Missy snapped her eyes back to Amy and gave her a hard glare.

"You're only brave right now because there are witnesses," hissed Missy lowly.

Amy stuck her chin up higher in the air and leveled her own glare at Missy, whose eyes widened ever so slightly at this. "Anytime, anyplace, anywhere Missy, and I'll always tell you off until you get the message," Amy said confidently; her knees were shaking but she hid that as best she could in front of the blonde.

"We'll see about that," Amy huffed and walked away, her legion of doom following close behind.

Jazz and Amy watched the hags from hell walk off; then Jazz turned to Amy, a look of bewilderment shining in her eyes. "Whoa," she said, completely awed.

Amy looked at her and then collapsed onto the bench that was conveniently placed there. Had it always been there? Amy had to wonder to herself as the crowd of people broke up around them, and shambled off in different directions. She sat on the bench breathing heavily and her heart beating a thousand miles a second. That was more nerve racking then she had anticipated she admitted to herself, but at the same time, it felt invigorating. Jazz started to laugh at her and Amy aimed a glare up at her friend doubled over laughing on the sidewalk; she had tears streaming from her eyes, as she tried to clutch her stomach. Then unexpectedly, both girls heard clapping. They looked up and standing there, not five feet away, was Gabe.

"Gabe!" Amy shouted completely forgetting about her nerves at seeing her ever-elusive friend. She hadn't seen him in weeks!

"Hello, my fine little friend!" said Gabe walking up to the two girls, "you must be Amy's friend, am I right?"

Jazz blinked at Gabe stunned for a second. "Yeah how did you know that? My names Jazz by the way"

Gabe shook her outstretched hand. "Gabe." He looked at her then putting his hand inside his jeans pocket. "Amy mentioned you before you know," Gabe said pointedly, "besides I've seen you around before, good comebacks by the way."

Jazz seemed still taken aback by this stranger then seemingly recovering her composure, she smiled brightly at him. "Thank you! I'm glad you think that! I'm sorry that we've never met before, I don't remember seeing you around before now…"

Amy thought this was strange, as Gabe had told her that he had been here for 6 years already and Jazz had been here for a year…Was it possible that her friend just had never run into him before? Amy shrugged and decided to ignore it. It was possible, she made herself believe.

Gabe laughed good-naturedly and scratched the back of his head. "I get around girl, and it's a pretty big campus."

"That it is."

"So nice work Aims telling Missy off," said Gabe offhandedly, "not many people have enough balls to just do what you and Jazz did, so props to you two!"

Jazz gave a mock bow to Gabe saying, "Thank you, thank you, I'm here all year!" Gabe laughed again at her; but thanks to Gabe bringing that back up Amy felt the familiar fluttering in her stomach. It felt like millions of butterflies were just bursting to be free and her palms became sweaty. She shook that all off though and instead smiled at her two friends.

"Thanks Gabe, but I have to admit it was a bit nerve racking to be perfectly honest," she admitted sheepishly.

"Ahhh!" exclaimed Gabe waving a hand at her, "you'll get used to it girl, their just dicks anyways, and believe me I've dealt with enough of them in my lifetime."

Jazz immediately became more interested in Gabe. "You have? How do you deal with them?"

"Me? Oh I just sometimes pull a prank on them it works every time." Gabe smirked at that.

"Gabe!"

"What?" Gabe frowned at her outburst. "I get a good laugh, they get taught a lesson and seem to never repeat their mistakes again, it's a win, win situation don't get your panties all bunched."

"That must be one hell of a prank to change a dicks' ways," said Jazz to Gabe in an I-agree-with-your-approach-way that left Amy looking at her friends almost rolling her eyes.

Gabe's eyes seemed to light up and a wide smirk crossed his face. "You have no idea girl." He seemed to stare at Jazz for a few seconds, as if lost in deep thought; almost like he was studying her. 'But that can't be right…right?' Amy thought to herself. Of course not, Halloween is literally right around the corner; her imagination was just running wild now.

"Hey you guys, Halloween is right around the corner, you hear of the big party that's happening at that same house as the first party a couple of weeks back?" asked Gabe, it was as if he had read her thoughts about the upcoming holiday.

"Oh yes!" exclaimed Jazz, starting to bounce on the sidewalk again from enthusiasm, "it's Lance's party! If you thought his normal parties were off the hook wait till you see this one, his Halloween parties can scare the shit out of you!"

Gabe looked at Jazz an amused gleam in his eyes. "I know that, it's probably going to be one hell of a party."

Amy was lost in thought; but when Gabe said that her interest was piqued. "Wait you're going Gabe?"

Gabe looked at her and winked. "Of course kid, why wouldn't I?"

"Well I don't know…maybe because your how old, and how does Lance even know you?" she asked in bewilderment.

"Believe me Aim, when you get to my age, it's just a number and means jack squat; besides I've helped Lance out of a few tight spots before, and he kinda owes me so he's repaying me by letting me come to the party," Gabe finished in a smug manner smirking at Amy.

"So you're gonna be there?" asked Jazz excitement just dripping out of her voice.

"Yup," said Gabe the 'p' popping out of his mouth.

Jazz squealed and hugged the man, Amy blushed somewhat at her friend's actions.

"That's awesome Gabe! We'll see you there, and I can't wait to get to know you more!" squealed Jazz loudly. Amy thought to herself that any louder and her eardrums would burst; but Gabe took it well and slapped Jazz on the shoulder, gently.

"Wait, we?" asked Amy; she had been thinking that after the last, somewhat party fiasco, that they would maybe lay low for a bit; but it seemed like Jazz was taking no, no's for an answer, or an excuse.

"Of course were both going Amy, so let's get our asses in gear and get a move on, shall we? We also need costumes! Halloween is only a week away and we have lots to plan!" said Jazz. She hooked her arm around Amy's arm and started to drag her off.

"Hey! Wait!" Amy started to splutter but she couldn't break her friends grip. Instead, she just looked at Gabe apologetically hoping he wouldn't be mad at their abrupt departure. He smiled and nodded to her in understanding and Amy breathed a sigh of relief.

"Nice to meet you Gabe!" Jazz shouted back.

"Likewise!" Gabe responded back in kind.

"I like him," said Jazz as if making her mind up about Gabe right on the spot. Amy just nodded her head, rolling her eyes secretly. Of course, Jazz would love Gabe, I mean, those two were practically peas in a pod, and if it wasn't for the age difference, they could pass for siblings…or maybe they were…huh. Not in looks, just in general personality.

Now she had to worry about Halloween. Moreover, what new problems would await them on that day? She couldn't shake the terrible feeling that seemed to creep deep in her stomach, and since her life hadn't really been that quiet here yet, who was she to ignore these fluttering's of instincts?


	12. Trick or Treat!

Jazz was pirouetting around the full-length mirror in her room. Occasionally she would stop and make a scary face in it or grimace, once she even forced her face into a creepy smile as she turned around with a flashlight under her chin. Amy walked in on her doing this; finally ready herself with her very own costume; she snorted at Jazz's antics; that seemed a common thing for her to do when it came to her small friend.

"You know, if you keep that up your face could get permanently stuck that way." Amy snickered at her friend arching her eyebrows.

Jazz snapped out of it and turned around to face her; her own grin grew even brighter. "Well that just gives me more of a reason to make Missy scream her ass off."

Amy laughed lightly. "I see you're done with your costume."

"I see you are too nurse, can you take my temperature?" asked Jazz lightly placing her hand on her forehead as if she was going to faint.

"Oh shut it you." Amy lightly slapped her as she headed out of the room. "By the way Jazz why witches costume?"

"Why not?" asked Jazz.

"Oh no reason; I just never thought you would go as a witch," Amy said conversationally.

Jazz shrugged her small shoulders. "I don't know, they kind of fascinate me, you know?"

"No I don't," Amy couldn't help but say, "their old, wrinkly, have warts on their noses, and are just plain strange; some even have green skin."

"I don't think all of them are like that Aim, there's got to be a few out there that aren't old and wrinkly."

Amy looked at her friend shocked slightly. "So wait you believe in that type of stuff?"

Jazz nodded. "Yeah don't you?"

Amy was slightly taken aback by her friend's confidence in this topic. Her and Jazz had never brushed up on this before, I guess because it never really came up. She tried to be a practical person as much as possible, believing that everything has a scientific explanation, even the things that were claimed to be unexplainable. She just didn't really share that same gift of faith that many people experience and retain. Sometimes she wished she did, to be able to believe in the unknown and that there was a God; must feel very freeing to the people; but look at the world they lived in. What kind of God would let it get to this kind of extreme if he loved his people that much? She guessed that that is where she always became stuck on the issue; she had problems believing in someone or some all-powerful thing that didn't even lift his hand to help the poor good people down here. She had never seen anything strange in her life, any witches, vampires, demons, or even angels for that matter. She eventually concluded to herself that she had to see it with her own eyes to actually believe it.

"Hey, earth to Amy," Jazz said waving her hand in front of Amy's face.

Amy startled back to wakefulness and blinked at her friend. "What?"

Jazz stared at her for a second with her eyebrows raised. "I asked if you believed in anything supernatural," she repeated waving her hands in what Amy took to be spooky.

"No," she replied adamantly, and walked around Jazz to the door. "So we going to get going or what?"

The grounds were full of college kids, dressed up and ready to have a good Halloween party that night. Zombies, vampires, mummy's, princesses, and superhero's walked by and many, many more. Amy had to admit to herself that she wondered why some of these girls even bothered to dress. Their costumes were so skimpy if they bent down low enough you would probably be able to see their thongs on full display; if some even bother to wear under things.

Amy turned to look on the other side of the campus; just more drunk college kids. Her and Jazz walked the very same route they had taken the first time to one of Lance's parties. When they got to the sidewalk outside of the school campus, Jazz turned to Amy as they kept a steady pace.

"So why don't you believe in anything supernatural?" she asked conversationally.

Amy sighed lightly. "I don't know I just don't.

"No one doesn't just not believe in something because they "don't" Amy; you have a reason, you just don't want to share."

Amy opened her mouth to say something but Jazz held up a small hand. "It's okay, everyone's entitled to their own opinion, if you don't want to talk about it it's cool you don't have to!"

"No, Jazz, if you want to really know it's cool," said Amy taking a breath, "I just find it hard to believe in that stuff because I've never seen it before with my own eyes."

Jazz looked at Amy incredulously. "So you actually have to see something with your own eyes to believe it?"

"Yeah, pretty much," said Amy shrugging again.

"What about God? Do you believe in him?" asked Jazz.

"I find it hard to believe in something all powerful, like God, that can sit back and watch as his children are hurt continuously," Amy divulged to Jazz.

Jazz stared at Amy in concern. "This is about your parents isn't it?"

Amy didn't answer her, and instead pointed at the house. "Hey look at it Jazz! It looks like a real haunted house!"

Jazz turned her attention away from her, and looked at the house and sure enough, it really did look like a haunted house. Fake fog was pouring out over the grounds, all emitting from the fountain in front of the front doors; tombstones were sticking up all over the yard, along with big fake statues of gargoyles, and people all around, chasing each other through the fake graveyard and screaming as other monsters caught them. Amy and Jazz started to walk up the drive, with eerie lights marking their journey to the house.

"You know Amy; I'm sure there's a reason for everything, even if we don't understand it. Maybe God just needed your parents, I guess; try not to be mad at him," said Jazz.

"How can I be mad at something that I don't even believe in? And don't you think that maybe I needed them still?" asked Amy completely indifferent and Jazz dropped the subject.

As they got to the house, someone had dyed the water in the fountain blood red, and had draped cobwebs over the whole thing; the water splashed from it in small ruby droplets as fog continued to emerge from its watery depths. The house itself was full of cobwebs and dust. Huge spiders sat in the webs, jack-o-lanterns sat in the windows of the house that were opened to the elements, and you could hear screams echoing from a small box playing somewhere upstairs probably. Lance had really outdone himself this year; when the full moon shown down on the house and grounds it gave everything an even more eerie and sinister air.

It was incredibly dark, if not for the lights that blinked on and off, they wouldn't have been able to see whatsoever. Lights that were shaped like candles gave off dim glows from the corners of the room. The dining room had a chandelier hanging with cobwebs draped over it and treats below it. Cookies shaped like witches fingers, cupcakes shaped like pumpkins. Some interesting spider candies that Amy had never seen before, among a ton of other creepy crawly snacks for Halloween, the punch even had eyeballs floating in it.

Suddenly, the girls were tapped from behind. They whirled around and came face to face with the sparkling golden eyes of Gabe. He had a huge smile on his face, but he didn't seem to have dressed up at all. The only difference to him was, was that he wasn't wearing his janitor clothes. He was wearing a black jacket with a plaid blue shirt underneath. He had on simple blue jeans and some handsome brown shoes but other than that, he looked completely normal.

"Well if it isn't a nurse and a witch," said Gabe over the loud haunting music, "the witch really suits you Jazz," he said winking at her.

Amy stared at him speechless, but Jazz threw back her head and laughed at Gabe's remark. "Thank you! I thought it would suit me to!" she exclaimed, "but what are you supposed to be exactly?"

"Angel on the run," said Gabe smirking at the two girls. They both stared at him confused and he shrugged. "What I got bored and I threw the first thing I could find on which happened to be this. Actually don't tell anyone but I'm really going as a trickster." He waggled his eyebrows at them giving a small wink.

His eyes then found Amy and he couldn't help but whistle changing the subject off of him again. "If I'm ever sick you can be sure to take care of me anytime, or give me a checkup for that matter," said Gabe arching one of his eyebrows.

Amy laughed at him, smacking him gently on the shoulder. "Your such a pervy old man."

"I am not an old man! Pervy yes! But do you see a beard on me? No? Okay, good, that means I'm no Albus Dumbledore yet," said Gabe feigning mock hurt.

Amy rolled her eyes at Gabe. Jazz then cut across them. "So what do you think of the party so far, Gabe?"

Gabe shrugged his shoulders. "It's alright," he replied nonchalantly.

Amy and Jazz raised their eyebrows at him. "I thought it was awesome so far!" exclaimed Jazz.

"Believe me I've been to my share of Halloween parties ladies, and I can tell you in my experience there are some that you just never forget," he replied winking.

"Ooo tell us about them please?" Jazz asked desperately holding her hands in front of her as she begged.

"Maybe next time." Gabe winked at them again.

"Fine," Jazz pouted sticking her bottom lip out.

"Hey have you guys danced at all?" he asked them curiously.

"No, we just got here," Jazz answered.

Amy saw where this was going and started to back away from her two friends, closer to the buffet table behind them. Gabe and Jazz saw her making her way away from them, both gave identical evil smirks. Halloween really was their holiday; Amy had to conclude to herself.

"You know, I don't really dance much…so I'll just wait over here and eat witches fingers until you guys get back, how does that sound?"

Gabe grabbed onto Amy's elbow before she could move too far away from them, and started to steer her towards the dancing taking place in the main room. It was a huge ballroom, who had that in their house? It was dark as well full of monsters, cobwebs, and floating candles. Jazz, Gabe and Amy made their way onto the dance floor and started to dance. Amy stood there awkwardly for a while not doing anything.

"Come on Aim! Feel the beat!" shouted Jazz over the music and grabbed her friend's arms in an attempt to make her move. It worked a bit and Amy began to let the music fill her senses.

"But I have two left feet! I can't dance!" said Amy feeling mortified by this, even though she continued to bop to the beat.

"Nonsense! I have taught everyone to dance that says they can't, and their actually naturals; they just get to up tight," said Gabe, "here let me help you."

Gabe proceeded to show Amy some simple steps and before they knew it she was beginning to dance like a real pro. She could feel the beat and move her feet and hips to the rhythm perfectly. After a while she started to laugh in joy and dance with both Gabe and Jazz with enthusiasm. The other two smiled and laughed at her, glad that she was letting lose and starting to enjoy herself. Many other people joined in with their little dancing circle and some cheered them on. Finally, the three friends became tired and decided to go sit somewhere and have a drink to relax a bit.

Jazz, Gabe and Amy made their way through the tightly packed throngs of people and finally came back out to the dining room. They grabbed seats by a window looking out to the front yard where everyone was going nuts. Someone had even fallen in the fountain by the looks of it and they laughed at them, pointing as they guy got out, blood red water streaming from his soaked costume.

Gabe came back to the join the girls and passed them each glasses. They toasted each other and Jazz and Gabe drank from their cups, but Amy hesitated. She looked into her glass and stared at it for a second in silence. Gabe looked at her over the rim of his glass.

"I didn't spike it you know," said Gabe, "it's clean."

Amy jumped slightly and blushed at Gabe's admission. She was embarrassed that he had guessed correctly about why she hesitated; she didn't mean to insinuate anything towards him; besides, it wasn't him that worried her about spiking someone's drink.

"I didn't think it was you, Gabe! I was just iffy about it," said Amy trailing off slightly.

"Don't worry I made sure it was clean before I gave it to you," he told her gently as he polished off the last of the drink.

"How would you know it was clean?" asked Amy, "and that I don't drink?"

"One," said Gabe holding up a finger, "you don't strike me as the type that drinks and two," he held up a second finer, "pervy old man remember? I've been to these parties before; I know when something's spiked."

Jazz looked impressed by this and took another sip of her drink. Just then, she froze and looked towards one of the entrances to the dining room coming from the kitchen.

"Oh shit; you have got to be kidding me," she mumbled.

Amy looked at her friend confused and frowned slightly, Gabe looked towards the kitchen, and Amy followed both of their eyes. Then she noticed what had caught Jazz's attention.

There standing in the kitchen doorframe leading into their room stood Missy. Her long blonde hair tumbled down her back in lustrous thick curls. She was dressed as a pirate; well actually more like a porn star pirate. Her boots reached halfway up her calves, and folded over at the top. They had a small heal about an inch on them and were the colour of coal black. Fishnet stockings climbed up her legs like ivy and she was wearing a white and red skirt that poofed out; any shorter and she would be broadcasting a lot around at this party. She was wearing some kind of a corset top that pushed her breasts up to the point where they looked like they were going to pop out; sleeves attached to the corset puffed out slightly and ran down the full length of her arms, they hung off her shoulder in a casual sprawl, and her nails were painted a deep blood red. Around her neck hung a golden anchor and on her head, to top off the whole look, sat a pirate hat, with a skull sticking to it. She saw the girls sitting there and her lips stretched in a wide, evil, blood red smile.

Her "crew" was all behind her. Each one also dressed as a sexy little pirate. Not as bold as Missy's though. In order to run around in her crowd you had to make sure you never out did her in anything otherwise you would be kicked to the curb fast and hard. She strutted over to them and came to a stop in front of them. Her legs spread apart and her arms crossed over her ample breasts.

Jazz gave her the meanest glare she could muster, and Gabe watched quietly to see what would transpire between the two groups; Missy's eyes flicked quickly to Gabe once again, as if acknowledging his presence and doing nothing about it. Amy thought she saw the girl shiver, as if warding off a fly, before she seemed to collect herself and stand tall and straight.

Missy stared at all of them and a throaty chuckle came ringing out. "If it isn't the dynamic duo back together again like the lesbian lovers they are, or are we going for a threesome now?" asked Missy the other girls behind her chuckling with laughter.

Jazz's face turned beet red it seemed but Amy was the one that beat her friend to the punch and stood up to face Missy head on. Missy's eyebrows rose in shock again at this. Clearly she hadn't been expecting Amy to be brave twice in a row.

"Haven't you learned from the last time pipsqueak that you don't stand up to me." Missy gave Amy a haughty glare.

"No, considering you were the one that walked away last time," said Amy glaring right back, "and obviously you're not too bright Missy, because if you were you would realize that we aren't taking your bullying anymore so I would give up if I were you. That only works at people who don't know what to do or say."

"Your just tough you little slut because your little pit bull is behind you right now," said Missy, "otherwise, you wouldn't have the fucking nerve to stand up to me and you know it."

"Oh yes, that's right, she's a slut and a coward right," said Gabe standing up this time. Amy and Jazz stared at him and even Missy, along with the girls, seemed taken aback. Apparently, they had forgotten that he had been sitting there the whole time, once things began to escalate. Missy's eyes flashed in a quick emotion that Amy had a hard time reading; she shrugged to herself mentally and paid attention as Gabe continued talking beside her.

"I don't see Amy dressed in a short ass skirt flaunting her thong to everyone in the vicinity, and yeah she's a real coward when you need your whole little pep squad behind you in order to actually bully someone. Let me tell you girl, that is the definition of pathetic, and I have dealt with many dicks in my lifetime, believe me, and your just another. Mark my words when I tell you this, every dick gets his or her day, and yours is coming…fast," finished Gabe in an ominous tone. "We still have a couple more hours before this night is over to."

Everyone was taken aback by Gabe's announcement. Even Jazz and Amy didn't know what to say to their friend, and Missy appeared to be seriously cowed by all of this.

Gabe's tone of voice had been very foreboding as if he could see the future and know that Missy's karma was literally right around the block. She had chills running up and down her spine from his announcement, and the others looked none the better. Missy straightened up and without another word, or look towards Jazz and Amy, or the girls standing behind her, she turned and swept out of the room. Before she could leave however, Amy could have sworn that she saw a flash of fear shine brightly in her eyes as she stared at Gabe, but she brushed it off thinking she was seeing things.

"Wow, Gabe, you have to give me lessons; that was absolutely amazing." Jazz gave a low whistle.

Gabe smirked at Jazz but didn't say anything to her comment. Amy stood there completely shell-shocked. She hadn't really expected Gabe to say anything in their defense especially when they were sticking up for themselves just fine. It was a nice surprise though and she appreciated him doing it at the same time.

"What's up Aim? You seem surprised," Gabe said staring at her with a bright twinkle in his eyes.

Amy shook her head and smiled at him instead. "It's nothing Gabe, just thank you for doing that. You didn't have to."

"Of course I had to! I hate bullies picking on decent people, and just so you know I meant you two." Gabe winked at the both of them. Jazz and Amy laughed at that and walked over to the dining room table. They started to sample all the different treats spread out before them, and Jazz even pretended that she was serving her own fingers along with the witch fingers on the table. Amy smiled at that and so did Gabe. Gabe grabbed the spider hanging from above and threw it into the crowd that was in the kitchen. The girls screamed and bolted from the room and Jazz, Gabe and Amy even, had to laugh at that.

"I'll be right back girls, gotta use the little men's room," said Gabe and strolled into the crowd in search of the bathroom.

Jazz and Amy started talking amongst themselves about embarrassing stories from their childhood. Jazz had just started a story that promised to be funny about how she accidentally got her foot stuck in a pumpkin when Lance came up to them.

"Well if it isn't two of my favorite girls," said Lance smiling brightly at the two girls. He was a classic vampire, complete with slicked back black hair and pointy fangs with fake blood splattered all over the front of his shirt.

Jazz rolled her eyes at him. "Oh please Lance; you don't even know Amy, really."

"Well this is as good a time as any to get to know her better, and hey, I do talk to her in our ancient languages course sometimes!" he exclaimed. Jazz just gave him an eye roll again and bit into another pumpkin cupcake.

"So how you guys enjoying the party?" asked Lance as he sipped some punch from his glass.

"It's good so far!" exclaimed Jazz her eyes shining in the dim glow of the lights under her witch's hat.

Lance smiled at her. "What about you Aims? Enjoying yourself? I know you guys had a run in with Missy at my last party, and I really would like to apologize about those guys," said Lance frowning lightly.

"Oh please Lance," scoffed Jazz rolling her eyes, "I keep telling you Amy's cool, and besides it takes more than the bitch squad of the 20th century to break our tough skin."

"Yeah it's cool Lance, no worries," said Amy smiling at him, "hey by the way your house is absolutely amazing! Did it take long for you to do?"

"Ah well thank you! And no it didn't I mean we had help," said Lance smirking lightly, "it still took a while but we were able to finish it to our liking quickly."

"That's good, who helped-" Amy was finishing her reply, when all of a sudden there was a huge scream that sounded like it came from outside.

Jazz, Amy and Lance looked at each other with puzzled expressions marring their faces. People in the other rooms were milling towards the front doors to see what the commotion was, and people already outside were sprinting towards the front of the house, from what they could see from the windows.

Lance excused himself and started to push his way through the crowd, Jazz and Amy hot on the back of his heels. "Excuse me! Excuse me please! Let me through!" he shouted shoving his way to the front of the crowd.

They were finally able to push through to see what the commotion was. The people had created a somewhat broken up circle around a group of girls. In the middle was a blonde head that Jazz or Amy could not mistake as anyone else. Missy was spinning around in the circle staring at the girl's faces all around her. She looked panicked, her eyes wide with fear.

"Get away from me! Stop it, don't come any closer!" she shouted at the girls. They looked to one another confused by their leader's actions wondering what they should do since they weren't taking orders from Missy.

Finally, one of the girl's stepped forward tentatively raising her hand in what she guessed was meant to be a placating gesture. "Missy it's okay it's only us. Remember me? I'm Gina."

Missy screamed at her, "GET AWAY FROM ME YOU FREAKS! WHY ARE THERE SO MANY OF YOU?"

"What's wrong with you?" asked the girl named Gina taking a step back from Missy.

Amy couldn't say she blamed the girl from recoiling in shock. Missy looked seriously demented right now. Her eyes were rolling around and her hair was a frazzled mess as if she had started to tug at it. Her stockings ripped and her corset askew, one of the arms of her shirt fully torn off to. It looked like she had been in a fight, but seriously, when could that have happened? She didn't have any bruises from what they could see though.

"Get the fuck away from me! I'm sorry okay just shut up!" shouted Missy at Gina. The girls and everyone standing around watching this were starting to get nervous; shifting on the balls of their feet as they gazed at one another.

"Leave me alone Jazz!" screamed Missy, "I'm sorry!"

After that, she seemed to collapse in on herself, silently holding her arms and shaking with sobs. Everyone stared at her in bewilderment. Lance slowly took a step closer to her, stretching his arm out the same as Gina had done just a few minutes earlier.

"Hey, Missy, you okay?" asked Lance gently. Amy stole a quick glance at Jazz standing beside her; she stood stock still, not even batting an eyelash. Her friend seemed shocked by Missy's behavior and didn't seem to know what to make out of all of this or how to react.

Missy spun around to stare at Lance, but instead her eyes locked onto Jazz's. Jazz stiffened beside Amy slightly. Amy watched as Missy got a look in her eyes, one of fear, and she slowly started to back away all the time keeping eye contact with Jazz.

"No, no," she kept repeating. She was backing up faster and faster not even paying attention to where she was going.

"Missy watch where you're walking!" shouted Lance at her but by then it was too late. The back of her knees hit the edge of the fountain and she toppled over into the blood red water with a scream and huge squelch. Although…it wasn't water but, was that, tomato sauce? She could have sworn that one second ago the fountain was spouting out water, now thick chunks of spaghetti sauce gushed from the fountain, enveloping Missy inside of it. All the people stared at the fountain at a complete and utter loss for words now. Amy had a feeling that this would go down in the history books as being a legend of, Crawford Hall, for many years to come.

Missy had submerged herself fully in the fountain; she came back up gasping for air as she desperately tried to wipe the sauce from her face. It stuck to her, oozing in places that tomato sauce should never touch. She should know, from personal experience after all.

Lance stepped forward and helped drag her out of the fountain; he grimaced as the sauce got all over his arms, as he helped right her up. She looked unrecognizable now; her costume completely ruined, and her hair plastered straight to her body in thick clumps.

Missy stared around at everyone and yanked her hand away from Lance. She then ran, or maybe hobbled, down the long driveway as best as she could considering she had broken one of her heels. Her so-called "friends" twittered and followed her down the road. Slowly everyone scattered back to what they were doing, laughing at what had just happened. At ease once again when it had all blown over. There were still some confused whispers, and some went closer to the fountain to inspect it, but no one was any the wiser on how tomato sauce had replaced the water, and so quickly too.

Amy and Jazz stood there stunned stupid. What the hell just happened? And why was Missy screaming Jazz's name? It sounded like she was seeing her face everywhere; coupled with the fact of the sauce and Amy was left completely speechless. There really wasn't a logical explanation for it; she had seen the blood red water pumping around the fountain when they had first arrived.

Lance came back over to them. "Umm, yeah, sorry about that, guys, I really don't know what to tell you just happened there," he said rubbing the back of his head lightly not looking at the girls.

"It's okay Lance, she probably just took something from someone that made her hallucinate," said Jazz shakily, "I mean she's an idiot like that. Umm nice touch with the tomato sauce though."

Amy wanted to smack herself silly, of course that would be why Missy had done that, she was hallucinating. However, it still didn't explain the chunky tomato sauce, which still burbled away not ten feet from them. At Jazz's question she looked back up at the boy, in curiosity.

Lance nodded his head to Jazz. "You're probably right Jazz; but I hate to break it to yea, that tomato sauce? That wasn't my idea; I had nothing to do with that." He shrugged as he wiped the bottom of his nose, the tomato sauce on his arms hardening into a sticky mess. "Hey, so you wanna go back to the party?"

"Umm if it's all fine with you man I'm just gonna turn in okay?" said Jazz chewing on her bottom lip.

"Me to Lance, but thanks for the fun party," Amy told him smiling.

He smiled back lightly. "Okay girls have a good, safe night; you need anyone to walk you back?" Jazz gave him one hell of a look just then and he put his hands up in defense. "Stupid question got it."

They both turned on their heels and following Jazz, they made their way from the party.

Before they could get too far Amy realized that they hadn't seen Gabe in a while. She turned back seeing Lance about to head back inside.

"Hey Lance!" Amy called out to him; he turned around to stare at her puzzled. "Have you seen Gabe at all? He said he was going to the bathroom but we haven't seen him since," explained Amy.

Lance seemed to think about it for a while and then shrugged. "No, I haven't seen him Amy, but tell you what; if you guys want to leave now that's fine. I'll find him and tell him that you both decided to go for the night, and also convey your apologies for not saying goodbye. Sound good?" asked Lance.

"Sounds great Lance, thank you!" said Amy running back to Jazz.

She didn't say anything to her, as she seemed to still be slightly out of it; it seemed that the event that had just transpired with Missy, had shaken up her friend more than she wanted to admit. As they stepped into their dorm, Jazz walked slowly into the center of it and turned to face her; her expression was one of confusion and shock.

"Did that just happen?" asked Jazz.

Amy nodded her head at her friend. "Apparently so."

Jazz nodded her head this time and scratched her chin. "But why was she acting so weird?" asked Jazz, "it was like she was legit scared, and I don't know what to say Amy, I'm shocked! I've never seen her like that!"

Amy frowned slightly at her friend. "But you said it yourself back there Jazz, she probably took something from somebody and was just hallucinating due to the drug or whatever it was."

Jazz frowned slightly and shrugged. "Yeah I guess your right Aims; it's just Halloween making me see more than there is to see I guess." She chuckled and started to walk towards the bathroom.

When she got to the bathroom door and turned on the light, she stopped and turned back to stare at Amy again though, a weird look shining in her eyes.

"You know it's kinda weird, and funny, at the same time," said Jazz contemplatively.

Amy cocked her head to the side. "What is?"

"Well, Gabe said like minutes before that all happened with Missy, that she would get hers and he had a feeling that it was literally right around the corner. Isn't it just funny and ironic that literally after he says that, that happens to her? It's as if he knew it was coming…but he couldn't have right? I'm just being delusional again aren't I?" laughed Jazz.

Amy laughed with her friend. "Right," she agreed. Jazz nodded and headed back into the bathroom.

When her friend disappeared back into the bathroom and shut the door, Amy frowned lightly and walked over to the window looking out over the campus. The moon was shining down, bathing the grounds in an ethereal silvery white light. Shadows stretched long and far from the naked trees and the wind whispered around the buildings, it appeared to be a ghost town.

Jazz had a point; Amy could not help thinking to herself. Was it merely coincidence that just shortly after Gabe had said that; Missy had ended up mentally unstable and screaming at everyone as if they were Jazz? Along with the fountain? Was it pure, utter coincidence that the thing Missy had spilled all over her, her first day here, was the thing that soaked her tonight? Things were just adding up strangely… There was also the fact that Gabe had a habit of disappearing out of nowhere, missing for weeks on end before she would see him again. But after what happened tonight, she didn't know if she could chalk that up to mere coincidence.

'Listen to me thinking like Jazz now,' Amy couldn't help herself from ruminating. She shook her head and turned off the lights, walking into her room to get changed. As soon as she was done, she turned off her bedside light, and turned over on her bed beginning to drift off to sleep.

Somewhere a dog howled but Amy was already out like a light, and wasn't able to hear it.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:<strong> This chapter is for WhoIAmHatesWhoIAm and Maddy Love Castiel who became instant fans of this story basically, when I first published it on fan fiction! Thanks for your support guys!


	13. Perverts in the Library and Boy Trouble

Talk about Missy's fiasco at Lance's Halloween party, was talk at the campus for at least a month after it had happened. As for Missy…well she went into hiding, Jazz and Amy were happy to report. If Missy did try to show her face she was snickered at and people pointed to her and whispered behind their hands. No longer was she bullying people, instead she kept her nose down and went from class to class not talking to anyone. Even her usual gangs of hags were not around her. It seemed as soon as Missy made a fool of herself, and lost her popularity, she had been dumped like yesterday's trash.

Jazz liked to eloquently put it as, "And so the mighty bitch loses her throne, shocker it didn't happen sooner."

Amy would just shake her head at her friend and keep scribbling down on her notebook. Whenever Amy tried to pity Missy a little, Jazz would instantly squash her down and say something to the effect of, "You're ruining my happy mood Amy, don't talk to me." Amy would shut up at this point and they would head back to whatever it was they were doing. After a couple weeks of this Amy just learned to let Jazz rant her heart out, she had enough reasons to, as anyone else that was subjected to Missy's reign of terror.

Late one night Amy was working in the library. Jazz had decided that she had done enough studying practically half an hour into their "study session" and decided to head to a lounge and watch the game playing tonight. Amy had merely told her good bye, not having looked up from her mess of scribbles in front of her as Jazz packed up and left. Jazz walked away from her mumbling "Bookworm" but Amy really didn't mind at all; besides, it wasn't like she had heard that before.

The sun began to set, casting shadows inside the library in the particularly dark corners; snow had started falling just the previous week and big fat snowflakes were drifting past one of the huge windows she was sitting next to. A blanket of white was covering the grounds almost shrouding the Earth in a beautiful, but cold, fluffy blanket. Amy sometimes liked winter, when it wasn't minus 40 outside and no wind, winter was beautiful, but it could also be deadly.

Often when she still lived at home, there would be the odd news report of a homeless person found frozen, but that seemed to be only on slow days. Who wanted to hear about a homeless person after all, when you could hear about bank robbers and rapists terrorizing the public? Amy rolled her eyes at this thought and reached out to turn a page in her textbook sitting propped open in front of her.

Suddenly, she heard the unmistakable sound of a girl's giggles and a man's low baritone voice mumbling things to her. Frowning slightly to herself, she glanced up in curiosity. Even though she was young, she wasn't naïve. What kid her age these days didn't know about sex? Well these people didn't sound like they were exactly going at it but still?

Amy got up silently from her chair. She could tell that they were close by and she crept to the end of the aisle, cautiously looking around the corner. No one was in the other aisle, but the noises were getting closer. She went down the next aisle; finally she was close enough that she could hear the panting coming from on the other side of the bookshelf.

Amy quietly and carefully removed a book that was sitting at eye level so she could peak through the slot onto the other side. 'This reminds me of something that only happens in movies,' Amy thought to herself snidely. She peaked through the small slit the book made into the other aisle and her eyes widened.

Against the other bookshelf, a girl was pinned to it by a man. Amy did a double take, wait was that gray hair? She frowned slightly as she watched this. Was that a teacher? Who? He looked somewhat familiar from behind but she couldn't place her finger on where she had seen him before. The girl threw her head back and gave a gasp. The man's hand had disappeared under her skirt, and the girl was gyrating her hips onto it. She was panting now and one of her hands grabbed onto his shoulder while the other tried to make his hand go faster. The man was attached to her neck, and Amy could hear the sound of sucking and muffled moans.

Amy's face became beet red and hot. She had never been confronted with something like this before, what should she do? 'I'll just sneak back to my place and pretend I can't hear anything.' Amy thought to herself. Yes! That's exactly what I'll do! She was slowly raising the book to slot it back in place and creep back the way she had come, when the man dislodged himself from the girl's neck.

"I think we should take this somewhere a bit more private, don't you?" asked the man in a husky voice.

The girl pouted and stuck out her bottom lip, staring into the elusive man's face. "Why? This is so much more fun, the idea of us getting caught," whispered the girl in a strangled voice, as she tried to be seductive.

"No we'll take it somewhere else, I'm not as young as I used to be," said the man, kissing the girl on the lips. She moaned and wound her hands up around his neck. Finally, he pulled away again and grabbed her hand. "Come on," he said and started to pull her away from the bookshelf she was plastered against.

As soon as his head turned to the side, Amy had to press her hand to her mouth to keep the gasp of shock muffled. There leading the girl away from her was Professor Cox? What the hell was he doing? He could lose his job for this if someone ratted him out!

Amy stood there in complete shock for a few minutes, trying to organize her thoughts so that they could catch up with her eyes, and what she had just witnessed in front of her. So Professor Cox was having sex with his students? Or was it the other way around? Wait, did it really matter? She mentally smacked herself. Coming to her senses, and realizing where she was standing, looking incredibly stupid standing here with her arm outstretched, and her mouth open wide, gaping like a fish. Luckily, no one had seen her, in particular those two and she quickly replaced the book. Running back to her desk, she started to pack her things, shoving them into her book bag in no particular order. Her textbooks were quickly swept in and her pens followed. She grabbed the other stuff that she couldn't fit quickly, bundled them to her chest, and rushed out to the door.

Pelting through the door, ignoring the librarian's angry screeches, she ran down the hallway. Just as she was turning around the far corner, she ran full force into a hard chest. "OOMPH!" Amy gasped out. Her hands flew out to the sides of her to break her fall scattering her papers that she was holding to her chest everywhere in the hallway. Her book bag went flying and textbooks littered the floor, thumping on either side of her.

Just as she braced herself for the hard impact that would be the floor, a strong hand grabbed her shoulder and stopped her fall. She looked up into the raised eyebrows and smirking face of Gabe. He stared down at her in amusement, looking around at the mess that was scattered before him.

"You are going to clean this up right?" asked Gabe smiling at her, "cause I know I'm a janitor and all but seriously if you're going to fall head over heels into my arms the least you could do is clean up your own mess," he finished smirking down at Amy whose face was still beet red from earlier.

Amy quickly righted herself onto her own two feet and brushed herself off, where a couple pieces of ripped paper were sticking to her person. She then looked Gabe in the eyes. "What are you doing here?"

Gabe raised his eyebrows at her as if saying, "Are you seriously asking me that?" Then responded to her, "Umm I work here remember? We met for the first time under the oak tree in the center court our eyes locked and-"

Amy quickly waved her hand at him. "I don't mean like that! In addition, quit making this sound like some love story gone tragically bad! What I meant really was did you see anyone coming this way? Two people?"

Gabe stared at her. "How in the world was I supposed to understand that from what are you doing here exactly?" he asked Amy staring at her in amusement and befuddlement.

Amy sighed in frustration. "Forget that! Did you or did you not?"

"No," Gabe replied matter of fact staring at Amy as if she was losing her marbles. Which she could be who could really know?

'Maybe I am.' Amy couldn't help the thought. Her last tests of the year were coming up and she had been doing a lot of revision lately to prepare for them, maybe she was just seeing things. Although she knew that was a whole bunch of wishful thinking, and she couldn't really afford it lately.

"Soooooooo," drawled Gabe, "gonna tell me what that was all about sweet cheeks, or are we just going to pretend you haven't lost your marbles?"

"You're talking to me Gabe, so does that mean you already have?" asked Amy breathing a huge sigh of relief and going down onto her knees to pick up all her spilled equipment. "What are you doing around here anyways, was there some kind of mess? You're not even dressed as a janitor."

"Well I was called here to look for a mess that was supposedly here, but it seems like some kids were just pulling my leg, and besides, I guess I found the mess so it wasn't a complete waste of time," Gabe replied spreading his arms out in a swooping gesture to encompass the whole hallway. "Originally I was on my way to my little flat."

Amy giggled to herself and grabbed her bag first. She started to straighten everything up inside and place the books neatly that had fallen out right side up in her bag. Gabe got down onto the floor and started to help her clean up, grabbing her papers in no particular order, and straightening them into a neat pile for her. Amy smiled in thanks at him, Gabe returned the gesture, and for a few minutes, they cleaned in silence.

Realizing something she looked up. "Hey, haven't seen you around in a little while again? You doing okay?"

"Oh yeah, I'm fine," said Gabe grabbing another sheet.

"Still not going to tell me your other job?" asked Amy laughing lightly. "And I'm sorry me and Jazz didn't find you to say bye at Lance's party; after the whole thing with Missy, Jazz was beat so we headed home."

"Nope," Gabe replied letting the 'p' make a popping sound as he said it, "and I believe I've told you before that it's more of a hobby than anything else." They grabbed some left over pens when he shrugged. "As to the party, it's really no big deal what so ever, I saw what happened," he whistled at that, "whoever did that has props from me. She finally got her comeuppance; funny how that happens I find. Lance told me you two left, so your message got passed along."

Amy stared at him in shock. "You can't seriously be telling me that you agreed with what happened to her can you? I mean I know she was a bully and all, but she was still a person."

Gabe snorted in derision at Amy and she looked at him frowning slightly. "Well she was a poor excuse of a human then," said Gabe. Amy opened her mouth to retort, but Gabe held up a hand to stop her. "Listen, why do you stick up for her? She bullied you and Jazz to tears, literally, and not just you but like 85% of the schools population. She thought she was queen bee and that she could walk over anyone. Then lie, cheat and steal. Honestly, it's amazing her head hadn't exploded to smithereens by now from how pompous she was."

Amy couldn't exactly argue with Gabe's logic at this. She could see the reasoning behind it and truth be told, sometimes she frustrated herself to. She was raised to have such impeccable manners that sometimes it was a pain to realize that she was sticking up for the wrong people; it would turn into a hindrance for her at the most inopportune moments. I guess you couldn't teach an old dog new tricks, but heck she would sure as hell try!

"Yeah I guess you're right," she conceded, "force of habit most likely."

Gabe nodded at her, seemingly to accept her answer. Amy then turned to stare at him. "Hey, how did you know I cried about Missy though?"

Gabe looked at her as if saying "Oh please" then he said a loud, "It's not hard to guess who are the ones that have a tough time when a bully comes calling." Gabe shrugged at his own explanation.

"Am I that transparent?" asked Amy laughing nervously.

"No, actually you're very complicated," Gabe conceded, "it's just that on some things, like what you just did now, you're hard to understand."

Amy nodded. "Yeah I could see that," she answered.

They started to walk down the hallway together side by side. The school was deserted at this time and the library would be closing for the day very shortly. Everyone was either taking buses to leave or heading to the dorms to get out of the somewhat chilly weather.

When they got to the doors leading outside Gabe turned and looked at her in curiosity. "So why did you take off out of the library so quickly? I've never seen someone run that fast before; I swear you looked like a cheetah racing out of there! Any faster and you would have had dust coming up from your feet." Gabe laughed taking another chocolate bar out of his pocket.

Amy stared aghast at the chocolate bar. "How many is that? Seriously why aren't you a fat little piggy yet?" she laughed, "It was nothing really, I just remembered I had something important to tell Jazz."

"One," Gabe said raising a finger, "I have a fast metabolism, and two," he said raising a second finger, "that must have been one hell of a message you had to tell her. Don't you kids have phones that you can just text each other or something?" Gabe asked taking a bite of his Snickers bar.

Amy didn't realize her slip up until it was too late, she quickly thought up a lie. "Oh I just wanted to tell her this in person instead of over text," she laughed waving away the suggestion and thinking to herself that that was a horrible lie!

"Alright." Gabe raised an eyebrow. "You go scampering off little one and tell her your uber big message." Gabe smirked at that. "Just so you know though, my chinchilla could lie better."

Amy rolled her eyes and didn't even bother to correct him on calling her "little one" since she knew he would just do it again. "Wait, you have a chinchilla?!" Gabe laughed as he turned on his heel and headed in the opposite direction.

Sighing in frustration she pushed open the door and walked briskly across the campus, carving small trails through the snow as she got to the dorms. As she walked, she thought about what she should tell Jazz.

'Should I say anything?' Amy thought to herself. She really didn't want to relive that whole experience to her friend; on the other hand, it would make for some interesting topics to talk about, and she felt heavy with the idea of keeping something this huge from Jazz. Maybe Jazz would know something about this; maybe she had witnessed it for herself.

Amy saw the dorm building looming before her against the gray sky. The snow was still coming down but it was starting to get more windy and colder as night had fallen. Quickly she let herself into the building and jogged up the flight of stairs to her door. Walking into the room she noticed that Jazz was still out. Placing her stuff gently on the table, she began stripping her jacket off, hanging it on the back of the chair.

Walking into the bathroom, she scrubbed the small amount of makeup that she was wearing from her face, brushed her teeth, and went into her room. There she picked out her PJ's for the night and walked back into the bathroom locking the door behind her. She started the shower up and set it to the perfect temperature for herself. Stripping out of her clothes, she hastily dived under the spray, sighing in contentment as the warm water soothed her cold, aching muscles.

The warm water felt heavenly against her skin, heating her up instantly. She lathered her long blonde hair and rinsed it, taking her time and carding through her long tresses. She shaved after that and finally when she deemed herself done, turned off the water and stepped out. After towel drying herself, she applied some lotion to her skin to keep herself hydrated, got into her PJ's and started to shake out her hair and comb it.

Suddenly, she heard the dorm room door open.

"Honey I'm home and I've had a hard day!" yelled Jazz slamming the door behind her un-doubtfully with her foot.

Amy smirked to herself; apparently, the game had ended in Jazz's favor. She opened the door and stepped out as she was tying her hair back into a long blonde ponytail. A cloud of steam drifted past her and into the main room from her earlier hot shower.

"I'm guessing the game went good?" Amy said smiling at her friends' exuberance. "And you do realize that that's lyrics from Shania Twain's song right?"

Jazz beamed at Amy her eyes sparkling with laughter and happiness. "So? No one said it was illegal to use in a sentence," she stated winking at Amy, "and yes it was spectacularly awesome!" Jazz squealed bouncing around the room.

"That good huh?" Amy smiled at her walking back over to the couch and starting to sort her papers out so they were in the correct order.

"It was the best thing ever." Jazz dropped ungracefully onto the couch spreading her limbs out all over the place like a monkey. "I mean football has got to be the best thing ever invented by man," stated Jazz in an awed voice.

Amy raised her eyebrows at Jazz. "I don't understand what's so appealing of watching men tackle each other and having a large dog pile on a field. Besides you could get seriously hurt or-"

Amy was cut off by Jazz patting her shoulder. "Amy, Amy, Amy when you get to be my age I hope you will understand the blessing that football gives to us."

Amy snorted at this. "You wish; what kind of blessing do you even mean?"

"No I hope." Winked Jazz. "Oh and it's to shout at the TV saying "run my little blue berry run!""

Amy threw back her head and couldn't stop the genuine laugh that rumbled up from her stomach; Jazz joined her too, both sharing in a great bonding moment. Slowly, Jazz wiped her eyes of any tears from laughter and stood up, clutching her stomach. "I'll be right back, just gonna take a quick shower to and get changed," said Jazz.

As soon as Amy heard the shower running, she sighed and rested her head back against the back of the couch. Her thoughts strayed off to all her classes, mentally cataloging everything she still had yet to do. Then she thought about what had happened in the library.

When she had first met Professor Cox, she had never expected him to be the type to have sex with his students. He seemed genuinely friendly. Maybe that's how he lures all the girls, gets them thinking he's nice then WHAM he screws you over, literally. However, he was risking an awful lot by doing this. He could lose his job, and be charged. Why risk all of that? You have a comfortable life and an okay job, with reasonable pay. From what she had heard of him he was married had two kids of his own and had just finished writing a book. So why? Was it the thrill? The adrenaline rush that came with knowing you were doing something wrong?

Amy puffed a breath out through her cheeks, and forced herself to stop thinking about this. There was no way she could answer questions like these; and therefore no point in her trying. Amy heard the shower turn off. Shortly after that, the door opened and steam came billowing out. Jazz followed eventually towel drying her hair. She noticed as her friend sat beside her, she had a small frown over her features, almost as if she was in deep thought and was being troubled by it. Forgetting about what she was originally going to share with the small girl she asked, "Hey Jazz are you feeling okay?"

Jazz jumped slightly and stared at her. "Yeah of course Amy why you ask?"

Well that didn't sound convincing to her and she frowned lightly.

"Well, all of a sudden your extremely quiet and you seem to be deep in thought, no offense or anything but you don't do that unless something is starting to really bug you," stated Amy.

Jazz stared at Amy then laughed. "You're getting to know me really well Aim." She smiled at her. "Yeah something kind of happened in the lounge after the game."

Jazz was wringing her hands in her lap nervously and was slightly chewing her bottom lip. Amy became concerned and put her hand on top of Jazz's to get her to stop. Jazz looked at her.

"What happened?" Amy asked her friend.

Jazz sighed. "Basically Lance has a crush on me; well I think he still does anyways."

It took Amy's brain a second to be able to catch up to that information, and when she did, she frowned slightly. 'Man I'm doing a lot of frowning lately.' She thought.

"I thought he knew that you were gay," Amy said gently.

Jazz nodded her head. "He does know, and I think he's trying to get over it. Amy what should I do? I don't want to lose him as a friend and I'm scared I will because of this, what do I do?"

Jazz was looking at Amy with huge tear filled eyes. Her friend was heartbroken about this and in turn so was Amy. She didn't like seeing her friend in pain especially like this, over something she couldn't really control.

"I'm not the best person to ask for advice on stuff like this Jazz," Amy replied hesitantly unnerved that her friend was putting so much trust into her about something this delicate and important.

"Just try," pleaded Jazz, "tell me what you would do."

Amy sighed and thought to herself. "Well, I guess what I would first try to do is talk to him, and see if this could be reasoned out. Explain again that I'm gay, but I value his friendship greatly and that I hope we could work past this," said Amy hesitantly. "But Jazz, you said you think? So maybe you shouldn't rush too conclusions? If he really doesn't feel that way, you're risking starting something and driving a wedge between you two that wasn't there to begin with."

Jazz chewed her bottom lip in thought. "Yeah, your right. I'll give it some more time and see what happens."

After a few minutes of silence Jazz got up and stretched. "I think I'm gonna head to bed, Aims." She smiled down at her. "Thanks for the pep talk it honestly really, really helped."

Amy smiled a bright genuine smile at her friend. "I'm glad I could make you feel better," she replied.

Jazz nodded and walked to her bedroom, quietly shutting the door behind her. Amy exhaled a long breath and sank into the cushions on the couch. She hoped her advice would work and really help Jazz. If Lance was as good of a friend as they both always claimed then those two would be able to pull through this; besides she didn't get the same feeling from Lance as Jazz had. When she had seen them interact the first time Lance seemed to care for Jazz more as a little sister than anything else. Maybe, Jazz was reading too much into this, or this had happened a while ago and to Lance it had passed? There really wasn't a way to be perfectly sure, so she shrugged and made a vow that she would let them work it out themselves.

In all the drama with Lance, Amy had completely forgotten to mention what she had witnessed in the library. She puffed her cheeks out and breathed out in one huge gush of air.

'Well that can wait,' Amy mused. It was more important to her anyways that Jazz feel better soon and make up with Lance. There would be plenty of chances to tell her what she had witnessed.

With that, Amy grabbed her homework and walked to bed. She put it all down at the foot of her small bed and grabbed a book that she had brought, deciding to do some light reading. After an hour, her eyes closed and before she could put her book away, and shut off the reading lamp, she drifted off into an exhaustive sleep never waking up once during the night.

A man with wings haunted her dreams all night calling out to her, but when she woke up in the morning, she couldn't remember a thing.


	14. Sometimes Fists are Needed

Slowly the days turned into weeks and large drifts were seen everywhere on campus. December had finally come and the biting gale force winds forced everyone to stay in as much as possible. On the plus side to all this cold, it seemed that Lance and Jazz were fine; back to the same easy going moods, and Jazz hadn't talked to her about any suspicions.

Amy sat in the cafeteria idly picking at her burger and flipping through a book she had checked out from the city's library a little while ago. It was decent she had to admit to herself. Personally, she didn't really understand the whole vampire thing everyone was having. Herself, she enjoyed a good book on angels; anything about them fascinated her; myths and legends or genuine stories with the plots weaving in and out, like a patterned quilt; she loved them all.

Right now, her book was mostly just on myths and legends pertaining to angels. She smiled at a picture of the archangel Gabriel. 'I wonder what he really looks like.' She mused as she flipped a page. She found something called "Gabriel's Horn of Truth," and decided to read up on that.

"Gabriel's horn of truth forces people to tell the truth, this horn also announces the call for judgment that will happen at the end of days," Amy read quietly to herself. "Huh weird looking horn if you ask me," she mumbled and kept reading.

"Whatcha lookin at?" a voice asked her.

Amy looked up and her eyes fell onto Lance standing before her. She blinked once up at the boy and her voice caught in her throat, she could only manage a slight croak at seeing him. He smiled at her and turned his head slightly to the side to get a better picture of what it was propped open in front of her.

Lance smirked. "Angels huh?" he asked her.

Amy blushed slightly and nodded her head. "Sorry, I'm a little of a fanatic about them; I know, weird right?"

Lance gestured at the seat across from her, miming if it was okay for him to sit. Amy quickly nodded her head at him and waved her hand a little too enthusiastically. Lance smiled and sat down across from her.

"Personally, I don't think it's that weird," he responded to her, "I'm kinda into that whole supernatural thing to you know?"

"Well, I'm not into the whole vampire thing or whatever, but I, umm, I like angels those are my biggies."

'Wow, Amy way to sound like a dunce to him the first time you guys are actually having a real conversation,' Amy thought to herself looking down at the book propped open and biting her lip slightly.

"Actually angels are fascinating, I'm not surprised you show an interest in them," replied Lance, "the messengers and protectors of humans."

"Yeah, well, I'm sure they have a lot of secrets," she said quietly.

Lance laughed at her. "What makes you so sure?" he asked her.

She shrugged. "Well their a lot older than us so I could assume that they are infinitely wiser about decisions, and therefore have many things that they keep to themselves. Hidden knowledge, things like that."

Lance nodded his head at that thought. "I guess they could be very complicated creatures," he conceded, "and powerful."

Amy nodded her head to. She was starting to warm up to the guy. He wasn't that intimidating once you got to know him a bit and talk to him. She flipped a page of her book and kept on reading.

"So you and Jazz are okay?" She couldn't help blurting this out in the poor guys' face.

Lance blinked at her. "Umm, yeah? Why? Are we supposed to be fighting?"

Amy quickly shook her head. "No! No, I'm sorry that was stupid of me. Forget I said anything."

Lance looked at her for a minute. He picked up a fry on his plate and popped it into his mouth, chewing for a minute. Opening his mouth he suddenly started speaking to her. ""I've known Jazz for about a year now and man we met in the stupidest way possible, but I guess with her that meant it was pretty normal." Lance chuckled at the memory. "I was walking to one of my next classes that day and get this I tripped over a banana peel."

Amy stared at Lance for a split second and then burst out laughing at him. Lance started to laugh even harder and both of them were bent double over the table. The people at the surrounding tables looked at the two of them as if they were nuts. They probably were but who cares?

"Who does that?" Amy exclaimed wiping a few tears from her laughter away, and brushing her hands off on her thighs.

"Apparently me." Lance snorted staring at Amy a bright twinkle shining in his eyes. Amy gestured for him to keep going on with his story. Lance smiled at her and continued, "So this girl's laugh comes up from in front of me and when I looked up there was Jazz. I thought she was so adorable. She introduced herself to me and we really hit it off quickly."

Amy nodded at him. That's exactly how her and Jazz had met, well not the banana part obviously but the getting along with her part and Jazz always breaking the ice and creating a friendship practically out of nothing. She had made her feel welcome and safe here and when she really needed a friend, Jazz was always there. She even stuck up for her when it came to Missy and for that, Amy was thankful.

She smiled at Lance sweetly. "That's exactly how she made me feel when I first got here," she confessed to Lance, "I didn't know anyone here, and Missy had already been picking on me; she just popped up kinda and was there for me. She's pretty magical if I have to say anything about her."

Lance grinned at her. "That she is; I totally agree with you there. She also watched my back. Missy kinda always kissed my ass to put it gently, so there wasn't ever really an incident with her on my part."

"I guess she thought you were cute that's why you guys got along, she's kinda like that."

Lance sat back in his chair and gazed at Amy with a kind and peaceful look on his face. "You basically mean she's shallow," he stated bluntly.

Amy looked down at her book and she could feel herself turn hot by the bluntness of what Lance had just said; no matter if that was how she felt or not, it was still blunt. Lance laughed at her expression and Amy looked up slightly mortified.

"Jazz told me that you were a real goody two shoes, but I didn't take her too seriously until now." Lance laughed at her. Amy was just starting to overcome her mortification and become defensive when Lance quickly waved his hands in front of himself. "No, no, don't get me wrong it's actually really sweet and refreshing, but I'm just saying the blunt truth to you. Missy is shallow; to her, popularity and looks mean everything, and personality and drive were meaningless. She wasn't exactly the top person you could pick to hold a meaningful conversation with, if you get my meaning," Lance explained. "And are you saying you don't find me cute?" he asked raising his eyebrows at her.

Amy's blush turned even darker on her face and she started to fiddle with the page of her book not bothering to look up. "So," she started to reply in a stuttering voice, "carry on with your story Lance."

Lance smiled gently at her and quickly continued. "Well, Jazz basically took me under her wing and helped me around. I found out we had a lot in common. We both loved football, and eating chilidogs. We loved anything to do with supernatural entities or creepy what if's. As we got to know each other better I started to really fall for her or at the very least get a crush on her."

Amy stared forlornly down across the cafeteria at all the students milling about. She knew where the story was headed now, but it would be best to let Lance finish it for himself on his own pace.

"Wait, you must have had some kind of inkling that she was gay though, right?" asked Amy skeptically.

Lance shrugged his wide shoulders. "I did; and when she confirmed it too me, that was that. Since then I've never entertained thoughts of a romantic nature towards her."

"Wait, so you're not crushing on her right now?"

Lance snorted at the question. "No, no, I haven't in quite a while. I'm not the kind of man to go chasing off after something that I can't have."

Amy sat back somewhat in shock. Jazz had made it sound like Lance still had feelings for her; maybe the other girl had read too much into a simple smile? It had happened before.

"Ah, she thought I still harbored feelings," Lance said at her shocked expression. "please tell her I don't, although I think the air is fine between us; besides, you should know what you can about us, I have a feeling were gonna all get along well together."

"I'll do that, Lance."

"Good! Well I'll see you in class tomorrow; we should talk like this again sometime soon." He waved to her and then made his way out a door on the far end of the cafeteria.

Amy waved at him from behind and closed her book on angels. She grabbed her bag, clutched her book to her chest, and started to walk out of the open cafeteria. The halls weren't too crowded considering lunch was still going on. She rounded a bend and bumped into a hard chest. This time she didn't lose her balance but stumbled slightly to catch it. She looked up, starting to apologize profusely to the person, and was met with cold eyes and an extremely hard stare. She gulped slightly at the man standing there and shrunk away from him.

He glared down at Amy and took a menacing step forward.

"Watch where you're goin next time," he growled out at her in a drunken slur.

"I'm sorry! I promise I will!" she said quickly and earnestly. She attempted to maneuver around him, until she felt a hand against her shoulder, throwing her back to stand before him once again.

Amy stumbled and caught herself against the wall, her book thumping onto the tiles on the floor. She stared up at him her eyes blown wide open in shock. He took a menacing step towards her and she scrunched her eyes shut tightly, hoping that this would all just stop; so much for her touch streak that she had been trying to uphold. She sent up a silent prayer in the midst of her panic, as she saw his shadow surround her.

"HEY!" a voice shouted near them. Amy's eyes flew open; she recognized that voice! There standing to her right just feet away stood Gabe. He wasn't wearing his janitor's outfit, which she found slightly odd, but shook that off in the face of what was happening right now.

Gabe was tiny compared to this huge hulking giant; he could snap Gabe in half. Amy looked to her friend in desperation, horror, and fear. She wasn't just scared for herself anymore, but also for Gabe.

"Who da hell are you?" slurred the guy staring at Gabe with a nasty glare. His small piggy eyes were narrowed, and his yellow teeth were bared; blond hair floppy on his head as he squared his shoulders under his blazer.

"Well big boy, I'm the one you should be scared of." Gabe grinned at the boy.

Amy stared at him in shock. Who was he trying to kid? Himself or the two of them? Amy tried to mouth to Gabe to leave but he either didn't care what she had to say or just didn't care to notice. Probably the first.

"Now will you kindly let my friend pass, quietly? None of us want any trouble here after all," Gabe tried to reason with the guy. He stared at Gabe stupidly then shook his head.

"I don't thinks so man," said the giant, "she was rude and bumped into me, so she should pay the price."

Gabe raised his eyebrows at this. "And what price would that be? I happen to know this girl and I know she wouldn't have bumped into you on purpose, and I know she would have apologized, so why don't you leave?"

The guy shook his head and quickly, before any of them could blink, spun around to face Amy. His fist was raised high and was quickly coming at her face. She closed her eyes and raised her hands up bracing her body for the abuse it was about to be hit with.

A loud smack reverberated throughout the hallway and Amy flinched, uttering a short scream at the noise. She stood there trembling for a few seconds, waiting to feel the sting of the hit at any second. Suddenly, she realized that she hadn't been hit.

Hastily she lowered her hands and looked in front of her; eyes widened in shock and amazement. There shielding her from the guy was Gabe, and that wasn't all. His right hand had caught the boys raised fist mid blow before it could land on its intended target. Gabe had protected her.

The man tried to force his fist to connect with something but Gabe kept it at bay and seemed to tighten his hold. The guy winced and tried to yank his hand back but Gabe forced him to keep it where it was. Amy stared at her friend in complete shock. He wasn't even breaking a sweat on this! It looked as if this wasn't straining him in the slightest. She couldn't help trembling in both awe and fear huddling behind Gabe's back.

If Amy could have seen Gabe from the front, she would have seen the murderous glint that crossed his face and how it seemed to twist into a scowl. His lovely features becoming dark and startling. As it was she could only see the boy's face from her angle, and he seemed to have turned slightly white.

"Now," stated Gabe tightening the grip that he had on the boy, he winced in pain at the tighter hold. "You are going to take off, and leave my friend alone for good, you hear? If I ever see you around her again, you will sorely regret it. Do I make myself clear?" asked Gabriel in a dangerously silky voice.

Amy trembled at the voice. It sounded as if raw power was surging out of control behind Gabe's words. There was one thing Amy knew right now and that was that she would hate to be that guy at this moment. The guy nodded his head quickly and Gabe shoved him back away.

Stumbling, he quickly righted himself, and took off running down the hallway back the way he had come. Gabe watched him until he turned the far corner then turned around to face Amy.

She stood leaning against the wall, a fine layer of sweat coating her body and her heart beating as if she had run some kind of marathon. She didn't even realize the fear coursing through her and the adrenaline until it was over.

"Hey Aim you alright?" asked Gabe gently taking a step closer to her so that they were in comfortable distance of one another. His eyes stared at her in kindness and he raised his hand and placed it gently on her shoulder.

Amy couldn't control herself and rushed into Gabe's arms squeezing the life out of him in a huge hug.

"Whoa," Gabe chuckled to himself, "where did this come from?" he asked her hugging her back, wrapping her up in his arms protectively.

"Thank you," Amy replied breathlessly, "I was so scared that he was going to beat me," she stated sobbing into Gabe's shoulder. Gabe gently ran his hands up and down her back and made soft, soothing, hushing noises to help her calm down.

"It's okay Aim, he's gone and believe me, he's never gonna touch you again," stated Gabe.

Amy nodded against his shoulder and leaned back slightly to look into Gabe's eyes.

"Where did that come from? And how do you know he won't bother me again?" asked Amy staring at Gabe in a new light.

Gabe shrugged. "Intuition I guess. And I just do a lot of weight training; you would be surprised at the muscles on this gorgeous bod." Gabe smirked at her, winking suggestively.

She laughed at the absurdity of it and walked over to retrieve her book from the floor where it had fallen. Brushing her hand across the cover, displacing any dust that had fallen on it; Gabe walked over to read the cover.

"Hmm angels huh?" he asked her, "where the sudden curiosity?"

"Hmm? Oh it's not sudden, Gabe," Amy started to explain, "I've always had a little of this fascination for them I guess you could say, what do you think about them?"

Gabe shrugged at the question. "Probably just a bunch of cloud hoppers," he said smirking at her.

Amy rolled her eyes at his answer. "Thanks Gabe, seriously," stated Amy completely serious, "I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't been here."

"I guess I'm like your own personal guardian angel, huh?"

"Yeah I guess you really are."

Gabe laughed and together they started to walk down the hallway. Now that Amy thought about it, it was somewhat weird that the hallway had remained deserted as that whole thing had happened. She shrugged it off, chalked it up to coincidence, and kept walking with Gabe.

"So I assume that the finals are coming up?" asked Gabe.

She groaned at the reminder. "Yup last week before our break."

"What are you going to do for Christmas break then?" asked Gabe staring at Amy in curiosity.

"Probably staying here to be honest with you, I don't really want to go back home."

Gabe nodded and decided not to pry into it anymore. Finally, they reached Amy's classroom door.

"Well here's where I let you off," Gabe flourished at the door and gave a dramatic bow.

Amy laughed at the pompous display. "I'm not some kind of princess you know, Gabe."

Gabe stared up at Amy and straightened up. "Well that's a shame, because I could have sworn you looked like one," he stated grinning at her.

Amy smacked him on the shoulder. "Thanks Gabe."

"Don't mention it sweet cheeks," Gabe grinned turning around and walking down the hallway. Amy watched him go for a while and silently thanked whoever had heard her prayer and decided to answer it. The bell rang overhead signaling the start of class and sighing she walked into the room.


	15. Horror films and Gingerbreads

Amy's midterms were literally 3 days away and she was freaking out tremendously. She sat in her Ancient Languages class, nervously biting the nails on her left hand; at the same time, she jotted down point form notes. Every once in a while, she would glance up quickly at the professor, but otherwise she continued with her habit.

"Hey you, stop biting those nails. If they get any shorter you'll move on to your fingers next," Lance joked beside her. He grabbed her nails, already bitten down to short stubs, and put his hand over hers on the table.

Amy glanced at Lance and smiled at him in thanks. One good thing came out of the misunderstanding between Lance and her best friend Jazz, and that happened to be him and her becoming good friends. Weird, when she thought about it considering that it came out of a fight between friends, but it seemed that the both of them were meant to strike it off good. In Amy, he found a person he could vent to; someone that knew about the situation and the two people involved, and someone he believed that he could trust. To Amy, he was like a trustworthy big brother, and somewhat of a puppy dog.

"I can't help it!" Amy hissed at Lance, "the exams are literally right around the corner and it's killing me! How are you so calm?"

Lance smirked at Amy and winked. She stared back at him in befuddlement.

"Well, I can't exactly give you my secret Amy," Lance began, "needless to say it keeps me calm and besides I've done this already once before….you haven't."

Amy rolled her eyes and turned back around to face the board.

The next five minutes of class went by fast; suddenly a loud commotion rent the calm and droning air of their professor. He twisted his body around staring at the door behind him as if it had just insulted him.

Amy furrowed her brow at the door as well. Loud shouts, and slamming of lockers, and the loud voices of young men were heard. That was impossible though; class did not end for another ten minutes, and with exams so close no sane teacher would let their class out early. Lance frowned to, turning to stare at her and raising one of his eyebrows. Amy shrugged back at him mouthing to him, 'I don't know.'

Their professor huffed and walked to the door, muttering under his breath along the way; something along the lines of 'hooligans.' He opened the door and stepped out.

"Hey now what is this!" he shouted.

The whole class began to murmur at their teacher's angry outburst. The shouting in the hallway began to escalate even higher. They could hear other teachers shouting out in an attempt to break up the fight. The class began to get up and head to the door to witness what was transpiring.

Lance and Amy looked to each other and got up to follow the rest of the students.

They reached the door; Lance pushing their way to the front. Outside in the hall the area was a complete disaster; books ripped and scattered everywhere, it appeared that a pen or twelve of them had exploded painting the hallway in smears of blue, red, and black ink. Some of the lockers appeared dented and a backpack had been torn to shreds, ripped paper was everywhere and even some bits of clothing? 'Weird,' Amy thought.

Amy stared around at the mess completely baffled as to what had happened. This much damage could not have been done in a minute since they heard the commotion. Lance and Amy stared at one another for a second, and then suddenly a muffled moan of pain came from the center of the chaos. In the middle a boy laid, his body badly bruised and beaten from what they could see from the doorway. Teachers instantly converged on the young man attempting to help him sit up. After they were finally able to get him up, she was able to get a good look at his face. She choked on a gasp by what met her eyes. There sitting with a black eye, a split and bruised lip and what appeared to be a broken nose was the same person that had given her problems only days before.

She stared at him in shock. What had happened to him to make him look this way? He was a big, strong person by the appearance of him. Someone very large must have kicked him a good one for it to be this bad.

Suddenly, as if the teachers realized they had a whole crowd as an audience, turned back to all the students. Making motions with their hands as if shooing them along they called out that classes were dismissed, that they should all leave. Even though the majority of people were reluctant to leave, wanting to see what else would happen, they all began to grab their stuff and calmly walk out whispering to one another what they had just seen.

Lance walked beside Amy. Finally, he sighed and started to chuckle. Amy turned to him in disbelief.

"You're laughing?" she asked him in a clearly questioning voice, "what's so funny exactly?"

Lance chortled to himself somewhat; then sobered up and replied to her question, "Well it's just Larry is such a dick. He beats up on anyone that's smaller than he is, and constantly bullies others. He's your classic "big and scary" bully," Lance explained making air quotes around the words "big and scary."

Amy stared at him silently. "So wait he picked on everyone here?"

"Everyone that he knew he could pick on Aims that's the key. He wouldn't go against someone who he knew would stand up to him, oh no, he went for the good people that he knew would be scared," Lance explained.

Amy gulped slightly and looked down at her sneakers. 'Okay this is definitely weird,' Amy thought to herself for more than one reason. First there was Missy, which after two months or so came under some kind of attack herself and hallucinated or something in front of a whole crowd of people; ending by falling in a fountain that was spouting tomato sauce, which had only just before been gushing red water. That one traumatic incident gave her such a bad reputation that afterwards her friends ditched her, and even Missy herself didn't appear except in classes. Amy frowned deeper as she pondered all of this silently in her head. Then there was that boy, Larry she guessed she should start calling him, he tried to pick a fight with her just because she had accidentally bumped into him. If Gabe hadn't been there who knows what would have happened. Any rubbed her forehead slightly; she could feel a headache coming on and it was starting to irritate her. Suddenly, it hit her, all these people had bothered her before, and then shortly after almost something weird happened to them all. Did this all coincide with her somehow?

'Wow Amy, what a way to think big of yourself,' Amy snorted, 'it's not like you have your own personal guardian angel running around.' She laughed aloud at that thought shaking her head at the absurdity of it.

Lance whipped his head around to stare down at her, raising his eyebrows right up into his hairline. "You okay, girl?"

Amy blushed beat red at this. "Yeah, I'm fine Lance, no worries, I just thought of something funny."

"Care to share?" he asked her wiggling his eyebrows. Amy merely rolled her eyes and shook her head no. They continued to walk down to the lunchroom, upon arriving they found a table and waited for Jazz to come over from her class. Since the disagreement had been settled things had returned back to normal; and as her and Lance became better friends, she felt like she would be taking on the role, in the future, of the person that's stuck in the middle when these kinds of arguments, or disagreements, happen.

Jazz quickly bounded over, her hair clipped with a nice butterfly barrette, rousing Amy from her inner musings. She plopped down her tray across from hers and sat down next to Lance.

"Okay spill." She immediately said to the two of them, which they both looked at her as if to say, "what?"

Jazz rolled her eyes at their clueless display. "The big fight that happened outside your guy's hallway! I heard that it was epic! Aaaaaannnnd that it was Larry who got the shit beaten out of him, God knows that guy deserved it!"

Amy's jaw dropped, at which Lance burst out laughing to her reaction at Jazz's comment.

"I told you Aim that he's not a fan favorite around here," Lance responded to her dumbfounded look.

Amy quickly shut her mouth her teeth making a clacking noise that jarred her whole jaw. Jazz snorted at her display too. "It's true Amy, he picks on everyone that he thinks he can. He even tried it with me one time when it was one of my first days here, and I told him to shove it where the sun never shines in front of a whole crowd of people. Needless to say he was so humiliated by that he never came back for seconds when it came to me," Jazz finished winking at Amy.

Lance who had been listening to this the whole time and taking a drink from his water bottle, spat the contents out all over the table. Luckily, for them they were not sitting in his direct line of fire, and he began to laugh so hard that he doubled over on the table resting his forehead against it. They could see his shoulders moving from time to time to show that he couldn't seem to stop. They both stared at him in amusement, as they waited for him to regain some control over himself.

Once the table calmed down, and they all progressed into their lunches; the lunchroom around them hummed with the constant chatter of people enjoying company and their food, Amy thought of something that she hadn't brought up yet about the "fight" earlier.

"Hey Lance," she started; Lance looked up at her as if to say yeah? "We didn't see anyone else in the hallway though when we came to the door, and obviously the teachers saw them since they started to yell break it up. So did the guys that do that high tail it out of there?"

Lance thought about it and shrugged, Jazz stared at them. "Wait, you mean you guys didn't see any of the guys that did that to Larry?"

Amy shook her head her eyes narrowing to slits as she thought about this. "No we didn't, like we heard the teachers yell break it up as if there really was a fight going on, but when we got to the door there was no one else out there except Larry and the teachers."

Jazz frowned at this. "That's weird."

Lance shrugged again. "Maybe not, I mean, they could have taken off when they saw all the teachers and they did leave a bloody mess on the floor; I probably would have done the same thing."

"For starters Lance, you wouldn't have started a fight like that to begin with and second if you did you would have been man enough to stick around and take the consequences for your actions, right?" asked Jazz smirking at him.

Lance stared at Jazz for a second. "Would it make you feel better if I just said yes?"

Amy snorted at this as Jazz leaned over smacking him on the shoulder as Lance laughed.

"Okay it's weird, I think we all agree on that, even Dumbo here does to, he just won't admit it cause he's being difficult," Jazz said jerking her thumb at Lance at the Dumbo comment.

"Well okay look at it this way, if the teachers saw who did it then they'll eventually find them again, and Larry also knows who attacked him so it's not like it's a really big deal, he'll tell them as soon as he can as long as his pride doesn't shatter any time soon," Lance told the girls.

Amy nodded, agreeing with Lance's statement. He was right, maybe they hadn't seen who had beaten up Larry, but someone obviously had, and they would find the people eventually, who would probably be in a heck of a lot of trouble for it.

"Okay anyways let's do a movie night tonight since its Friday!" Jazz shouted for joy.

Amy glared at her friend. "Jazz we have to study! Exams are on Monday and we need to be ready for them!"

"Oh come on Aims everyone knows you're gonna pass with flying colours; what are you so worried about?" asked Jazz, "besides movies actually help me before exams; they help me relax."

Amy looked at Jazz disbelieving. "Okay fine, as long as I get the rest of the weekend all to myself in peace so I can be ready for Monday. Maybe you're so confident I'll pass in flying colours but I'm not."

"Yay!"

"Okay cool, so whatcha girls want to watch then?" Lance asked curiously.

Jazz scoffed. "I personally don't care, we could watch Barney and I would still be happy because I have you guys sitting right beside me," Jazz simpered with big puppy eyes staring off into the distance as if visualizing all of this; which Amy thought, she probably was.

"Whatevs Jazz," Lance replied to her, "okay guys I'm off; I have a couple of errands to run before the movie tonight so I shall see you guys around 6ish k?"

"Sounds good Lance, our door is always open so feel free to barge in," Jazz replied winking at him.

Lance smiled at the both of them, waved, and headed off. The two of them watched him until he rounded the corner and out of sight. Amy realizing something turned to Jazz.

"Hey, we didn't tell him what kind of movie we wanted to watch," she said to Jazz, frowning slightly as she picked at her food with her fork.

Jazz shrugged. "He has good taste in movies sometimes, I'm sure he'll pick something."

"Okay then," Amy replied.

The both of them lapsed into silence at the end of that and returned to their food. Shortly after finishing, they headed back to their dorm to clean up and be ready for six.

**~x~**

**6 o'clock (or an hour or so after)**

**~x~**

Amy sat in the corner of the couch huddled with a cushion pressed to her chest. She stared at the movie in wide-eyed fright as the girl ran from the villain chasing her. When Jazz had said that Lance usually had a good taste in movies, she had failed to mention that that good taste went to horror films, which she was absolutely petrified of.

Amy violently flinched as the girl screamed on the TV, and hid her eyes in the cushion. Beside her Lance and Jazz were avidly engrossed in the film. Having brought some popcorn over from his place, they both kept on grabbing more and piling it in their mouths, meanwhile keeping their eyes fixated the whole while on the movie playing before them.

They were watching "Nightmare on Elm Street" and Amy thought to herself that there was no way she was going to be able to sleep later on that night. Even though she was terrified of the movie, she didn't want to say anything to her two friends and ruin it for them. Therefore, she stayed quiet and watched, well….kind of anyways.

"Ugh I hate that part with the trail of blood in the school that she follows in her dream," Lance said suddenly from the other end of the couch.

"I know!" Jazz instantly remarked, "don't you just want to scream at the girls in these horror films to grow a brain or something? Like obviously it's a trap so why the hell would you go?"

"That's the point of horror films Jazz, the people have to be stupid," Lance remarked, "just like in the Jason movies there's a moral behind his too."

Jazz and Lance both looked at each other and said at the exact same time, "Don't touch Jason's weed!"

They both broke into peals of laughter as Amy sat shuddering on the couch.

One hour later, the movie had finished, and Amy breathed a shaky sigh of relief. Jazz and Lance both smiled broadly at the ending and high fived each other next to her.

"Great movie Lance; I really like Freddy," Jazz exclaimed.

Lance beamed at her and nodded. "It's good to see that some people can still appreciate an A+ monster from the oldies back when villains were actually villains."

Jazz nodded at him, completely agreeing. Then she turned to Amy who quickly placed a wide smile all over her face.

"Whatcha think Aims? Good movie or what?" asked Jazz her eyes dancing with happiness and a bright twinkle shining in their depths. Amy quickly nodded to her friend not wanting Lance or Jazz to see that she was actually freaked by the movie, and would probably need a night light for the rest of her life after that; she was a complete wuss when it came to them.

"It was good guys, thanks for bringing it Lance," she answered though, plastering a fake smile over her face. She could feel her lips twitching with the effort as if her muscles were straining to fight the unwanted movement.

"Hey no probs guys, anytime for my two special girls," Lance replied as Jazz and Amy both smiled at him. "Well I'm off you two; gotta catch some shut eye."

"Yeah me too I'm completely exhausted."

Lance got up and grabbed the movie from inside the DVD player. Placing the disc back into the case and snapping it shut, he grabbed his black leather jacket and quickly swung it on himself. Jazz walked him to the door and with one last wave at the both of them; he left the room. Turning back around to face Amy, a smile began gracing her features.

"Well Aims I'm heading to bed and all, you coming right now?"

"Yeah I think I'll try to get some sleep now too," Amy replied yawning slightly. Although she was tired, her heart was still pounding, and she knew instinctively that she wouldn't be sleeping tonight at least.

Jazz nodded and began walking towards her door with Amy following slightly behind.

"Well night Aims," Jazz, said from her bedroom, "and don't let Freddy get you."

Amy shook her head at her friend and forced a fake laugh that even sounded strained to her own ears, wincing inside at the sound she replied, "Yeah, yeah, Jazz good night."

The two of them walked into their bedrooms and lightly closed the door behind them. Amy walking over to her small dresser, took out a fresh pair of pajamas, and quickly changed. Tucking the clothes away that she wore today so that she could wash them later, she headed over to her bed. Just as she was about to get on the bed she stopped. Slowly she bent down and checked beneath it. Realizing that nothing was there and how stupid she was being, she laughed to herself and climbed up.

"Look at yourself Amy it was just a movie," Amy mumbled quietly. Turning off the lamp beside her, she still pulled the covers all the way up to her chin, feeling better; as if the blanket was a guardian and nothing could touch her from inside it's cocoon. The room was dark even though the curtain, which covered the window, was pulled back on the other side of her small room. She turned in her bed and stared at the window, the moon was a small sliver in the night sky, and it had almost fully disappeared again; in a couple of nights, it would be gone for a while.

Amy closed her eyes and attempted to fall asleep. Sure enough two hours later she was still wide-a wake, tossing, and turning. She couldn't find a comfortable position on the bed, and the shadows in her room kept playing tricks on her, making her think that Freddy would jump out of the wall at any moment and grab her.

Finally, after another half an hour of tossing and turning, Amy conceded that she wasn't going to get any sleep for the rest of that night. Quietly she tiptoed out of bed, got her jacket hanging off the hook on the back of her door, and silently walked out of her room. Jazz's door was closed and she quickly padded past her door and to the front door of their dorm. Putting her shoes on, and doing a double check, to make sure her key was still around her neck, before she eased the door open and padded out into the hallway.

The cold winter air hit her face sharply, like a quick slap, instantly waking her up to any drowsiness that she may have had earlier. The air was cold enough that her lungs protested with every breath that she took in. Amy bundled her mouth into her coat and hugged herself as she started to walk down the small trail that was shoveled out for the students use.

The campus grounds looked different in winter. Icicles hung down from the buildings as if they had cried and their tears had frozen beneath the windows. Snow piled on the roofs, and some drifts were reaching up the building. All it would take was one good gust of wind to make that whole snow pile fall off the roof, and knowing someone's luck, right onto them. If she squinted, the buildings reminded her of ginger bread houses somewhat. When it came close to Christmas when she was smaller, her mom and her would build ginger bread houses. It was their yearly tradition and they never missed one, well except for this year. Amy blinked back tears in sadness and abject misery as it engulfed her whenever she thought of her mom or both of her parents.

She was so deep in thought that she hadn't realized that where she was walking no streetlights lit up the area. She jolted as she realized this and looked up frowning at the lights that remained dark.

'That's weird.' She thought to herself frowning slightly. The sky was cloudless tonight and she could see all the stars shining brightly from high up, but without the moon being full, there was really hardly any light to go by. She could see streetlamps behind her still glowing, and ones in front of her that glowed. Just as she was turning back around to walk to her dorm, she noticed two people standing a little ways away from where she was. It was amazing that they hadn't noticed her.

It appeared to be two males. One was slightly shorter than the other, but from her distance, she couldn't make out much more. The taller one though was gesturing with his hands violently and that immediately got her attention. Normally, she wouldn't even think of doing something like this, but at that moment her curiosity was peaked. What were two guys talking about, standing out here, in the middle of winter, just after twelve or so?

Slowly and cautiously, Amy began to creep closer to the two males. As she got closer to them the taller man's voice disguised the soft crunching of the snow under her sneakers. She hid behind a pile of garbage cans and from her close vantage point was allowing her to hear what they were saying.

"You have to be careful man! If you don't keep a low profile one of those guys is gonna figure out what's going on, slowly but surely," hissed the taller man.

The shorter one, or what Amy presumed to be the shorter one since she wasn't peaking around the garbage bins, mumbled something in response to the taller ones accusations.

The taller man laughed derisively. "Oh please, you've been around a lot longer than I have, and you know perfectly well the stakes of the games you're playing," hissed the first man again.

"Then why are you lecturing me? You're right, I have been here far longer than you have been, and quite frankly I don't need your silly little pep talks to keep me out of the slammer so relax," replied the shorter one sarcastically for the first time so that Amy could hear him.

As Amy listened to this conversation, she frowned heavily. The two voices sounded eerily familiar and she couldn't shake the fact that she had heard them both before very recently. Slowly, and trying to be as quiet as she could, Amy leaned over and peaked around the garbage bins. She was close enough to make out the facial features of both of the men standing before her, even in the minimal light, and had to stifle her gloved hand against her mouth to keep in the startled gasp so that she wouldn't give herself away.

Standing before her, arguing in the quiet night, was Gabe and Lance. The two of them were glaring at each other and Amy's eyes became round and wide, exactly like two huge dinner plates.

"Lay off Lance; I know what I'm doing," Gabe remarked heatedly glaring at Lance.

Lance smirked down at Gabe. "Oh yeah I can see that Gabe, you're just getting started and I think I can hazard a safe guess as to why you're doing this, but I'm just saying it now, be careful or you're gonna be over your head."

Gabriel made a pft noise from under his breath. She could picture him rolling his eyes at the comment. "I don't need your friendly advice Lance, but tell you what, if I ever need someone as paranoid as you I'll make sure to call you first; just so you know you'll be on speed dial on my phone from now on. Happy?"

"Awe you mean you've finally become modern?" asked Lance grinning slightly.

"Watch it boy or I'll target you next for shits and giggles," Gabe snapped.

Lance just turned on his heel and began to walk away from Gabe. Gabe stared after him until he was around the corner. Slowly turning on his heel, he began to walk in the opposite direction from where Lance had headed and rounded the corner.

Amy sat behind the bins, in complete shock. What was all that? What was that about? What did Gabe exactly mean when he said, "Keep me out of the slammer"? Did that mean that he actually served time in jail or something? Amy shuddered and this time it was not from the cold.

She was in such deep thought that she didn't notice until minutes later that the street lamps that had not been working just short minutes earlier had miraculously turned on again.


	16. Catfights and Saints

It was early Monday morning, 3 days after she had heard Lance and Gabe talking outside on campus that cold and silent December night; since she had overheard Amy couldn't stop ruminating about it. Her mind constantly toyed with what if's about the two of them. Moreover, when she said toying she meant toying. Over the last couple of days, her mind went from thoughts that were innocent, like somehow Lance knew Gabe, because the janitor had babysat him once or twice, to completely insane ideas like the two were international spies and the best in the business, and were here to investigate perverted teachers messing around with students in libraries. Okay, yes, she freely admitted to herself that her ideas were never bright at times; it was a testament to how this had consumed her.

Amy smacked her head as she thought of this scenario again for the hundredth time. She was driving herself steadily insane thinking up all of these scenarios. The exams were today and she had one hour, and she was still consumed about this! Really? Her whole future was hinging on these classes and she couldn't seem to focus on them long enough to even go in the exam and pass them. Smacking her head lightly into the brick wall behind her in the empty hallway, she winced at the small flare of pain.

"Face it Aim," she mumbled to herself quietly, "you're losing it and this is all driving you insane. Pull yourself together girl and get your head in the game!"

'And now I'm giving myself quotes from High School Musical, good job,' she mused to herself, groaning loudly.

She could hear the distant ticking of a clock hanging on the wall around the corner and rolled her eyes. She should probably get going to her first exam it was probably almost nine; yet her head kept spinning and her body didn't seem to want to obey her to get up and get moving.

"Ohhhh come on you lazy butt! Get up and get going!" Amy moaned to herself as she closed her eyes and scrunched her forehead in anger and desperation.

"Well it works better when you actually stand I would think," said a voice above her.

Amy startled violently at the new noise that hadn't come from her. Looking up she saw Gabe looking down at her a small smirk spreading across his face. Amy blushed deep red, as her eyes fell on the man. Her heartbeat started to increase and she felt a shortness of breath come over her. She hadn't seen Gabe or Lance since late Friday night doing everything in her power to avoid them as much as possible. So far, it had all worked out, or so she thought. Now she saw Gabe standing before her and she instantly froze not knowing how to react to this. She needed more time dammit! To decide fully what to do with what she knew. She didn't know if she should confront them about what she had overheard or pretend that she hadn't heard anything and nothing had changed between the three of them. The latter was probably the better pick, considering they most likely hadn't realized she was there behind the garbage cans, listening in on them. To act any other way would have aroused suspicion with the two of them.

Upon seeing Amy's reaction to him Gabe furrowed his brows in concern. "You okay squirt?"

Amy startled for the second time. Finally, his voice seemed to have a positive impact on her and it made her find her feet. She walked around Gabe and started sprinting down the long hallway.

Calling over her shoulder without looking back she shouted, "Sorry Gabe! I'm late for my exams I need to go! We can talk later!"

Before Gabe shouted anything, she ran down the next hallway and taking a quick turn darted around another one. After she had run for about 5 minutes straight, down the twisting and turning corridors that acted like a maze under the school, she stopped to catch her breath. Leaning against the wall, she panted breathlessly, dropping her utensils to the floor. Breathlessly Amy pressed her hot cheek against the cold wall and closed her eyes willing herself to calm down and relax; taking comfort in the cold concrete against her heated skin.

'I really need to sort myself out and quickly.' She thought to herself. That was so far from acting normal, it was almost funny.

Slowly she looked up at the clock ticking above her and her eyes widened comically. It was 8:55! She had five minutes to get to her exam on time! Her heart felt like it stopped and she froze as she stared at the clock.

"DAMN!" Amy shouted down the hallways, quickly grabbing her stuff she sprinted back down the way she had come, stumbling and still out of breath.

She had been running for another minute. Turning the corner at full speed to run down the next hallway she collided with someone. A big oomph came out of the tangle of limbs and a small scream exited from the other person. Papers and pencils went flying everywhere, and the two of them collapsed onto the floor, limbs flying all over the place.

Amy extricated herself out of the mess as best as she could and turned to look at the other person that she had collided with.

"I am so sorry! I'm almost late and I wasn't paying any attention to where I was going!" Amy stated quickly grabbing the other girl's arm to help her up.

The other girl turned her head and Amy's eyebrows skyrocketed upwards.

"Jazz? What are you doing down here right now? Don't you have exams to?" asked Amy practically shouting at her small friend.

Jazz winced and smiled up at Amy as she got up and dusted herself off. "Hey Aim, you know, just running to my exam as usual," Jazz answered with a cheeky grin.

Amy stared at Jazz baffled. "All the way down here? What were you doing down here anyways?" Amy asked Jazz in confusion.

Jazz made a pft sound at Amy." Like you can talk girl you're down here yourself running nuts like an ape after a banana; as for me, like I said before, I'm running for my exam so let's like skedaddle were almost late!"

With that, Jazz quickly gathered her things and sprinted back down the hallway. Amy stared after her friend; quickly snapping herself out of it, she gathered her stuff and sprinted after her shouting out, "I am not an ape!" Jazz laughed at this.

When Amy had caught up to her, they sprinted around another corner and started running through the main foyer almost at the location where the exams were being held.

Jazz panting beside her asked, "So what were you doing down there anyways?"

Amy was huffing at this point and shook her head. "I was just thinking!" she shouted back to her friend as they started to run down some stairs.

Jazz's eyebrows rose at this. "Thinking huh? You sure have done a lot of that the last few days, like I know exams are coming up and all, but this much thinking can't be healthy for one person. Besides you've been acting weird since Friday night; scary movie still spooking you?" Jazz joked with Amy.

"Maybe; I'll tell you later! Let's just get there before I pass out!"

"Okey dokey!"

They rounded the last corner and sprinted to the gym doors. One of the teachers standing at the doors saw them and held it open before he closed it.

"Hurry up girls! Exams are just getting started!" he shouted to them from behind.

Amy and Jazz ran over the threshold of the gym and hunched over panting. Quickly they straightened up and moved off to their desks. Amy found her row at the farthest side of the gym while Jazz was practically right next to the door.

'Lucky her.' She thought.

As she walked down her row, she noticed that the only free seat was in front of Lance. Gulping she walked up to her spot. As soon as Lance heard someone move behind him, he turned and smiled at her upon seeing her. Amy gave a thin smile and quickly sat down in front of him. She placed her stuff on the desk, shaking slightly from her run, and Lance sitting behind her, closing her eyes she breathed and tried to center herself for this exam; calling up facts, translations, and meanings in her mind. It was calming her down quickly; unfortunately, she didn't have much time to relax since she felt a poke on her shoulder; turning slightly to look over her shoulder at Lance.

"Hey, cutting it pretty close don't you think?" Lance said, "I mean the exams are just getting underway. You were almost late for your very first one!" he whispered.

Amy nodded at him not trusting herself to speak right now. Lance frowned slightly at this.

"Hey you okay, Amy? You're kinda pale right now, everything alright?" asked Lance worryingly.

Before Amy could respond, the teacher in the front of the gym addressed the students at large.

"Okay everyone settle down please! First off, your exams will take place from 9 o'clock until 1 o'clock at the latest. After that no one will be able to write anymore or add anything to their papers; so please budget your time accordingly and attempt everything on the exam. Even if you may not know the full question, you could potentially achieve half points for half-correct answers. Furthermore, there will be no talking allowed; cell phones are prohibited and need to be turned off and away at all times. If myself or another teacher see's you with one it will be confiscated and you will receive zero on this exam. If you should finish early, please wait until 11 o'clock until you give us your exams. Without further ado, I wish you all the best of luck and the exam starts now!"

Rustling of papers could be heard throughout the gym as everyone turned their exams over and started to write. Amy flipped hers over and began the first question. Upon seeing it she smiled to herself. Maybe this exam wouldn't be as bad as she had originally thought it would be.

**~x~**

**11 o'clock**

**~x~**

Amy sat in her desk 2 hours later after she had first flipped to the first page. She had finished the entire exam by 10:30 at the latest and had taken an extra 30 minutes to look it over; which she really didn't need. She had five more minutes before she felt confident enough to hand it in and leave.

All around her students were writing furiously on their own respective papers. Noses almost touching the desk in a few cases, and some mumbled words here and there, were the only noises taking up the otherwise silent gymnasium.

Amy smiled to herself. Once she had got going on her paper, every other thought had flown through the window, and she could actually concentrate. As she mentally ran through her exam for the final time, she decided that she had done everything in her power to answer each question to the best of her abilities. Now all she had to do was wait for the result of the exam.

As she sat there, thoughts of Friday night strayed into her mind once again. She sighed quietly to herself and her shoulders slumped a smidge. She knew it was rude of her to blow off Gabe like that. What if he was dangerous or something, and what about Lance, what was the deal exactly with him? There was something that she was missing in this whole scenario, maybe that's why it bothered her so much. When she was missing a certain "key" factor, it threw everything off and made her obsess to find out the full facts.

Realizing that she desperately needed to talk to someone she glanced over, looking to the far side of the room. Amy spotted Jazz sitting at her desk. Her friend was chewing on her pencil and glaring at her exam as if hoping that it would light on fire and disappear. Amy couldn't help the shake of her shoulders as she tried to keep her laughter in.

'Looks like Jazz is going to be here a bit longer,' Amy thought silently to herself.

Suddenly, the teacher at the front stood up and cleared his throat. Amy looked up to the front of the gym knowing what he was about to say.

"It is now 11 o'clock so for any of you that may have finished early and wish to leave please proceed quietly to the front here, hand in your papers, and exit the gym silently. For the rest of you, you still have two hours so keep writing."

With that, the teacher sat back down and Amy gathered her belongings. Without looking behind her at Lance, she walked up to the front of the gym and handed in her exam to her languages teacher. The teacher looked up at her and gave her a warm smile.

"Well done Amy can't say that I'm surprised you're done so fast. Oh and Lance, you as well, neither one of you shocks me with this I must say, you're the best in my class," replied their pudgy little teacher beaming at the two of them.

Amy froze upon hearing that Lance, had completed his exam early too. She took in a deep breath, gave a thin smile to her teacher, and started to walk towards the exit hastily, not daring to look behind her. Even though she was walking quickly, she was no match for Lance's longer legs and therefore stride; he quickly caught up to her and they walked side by side out of the gym.

As soon as they left, Lance pumped the air with his fist. "Yeah one down, and 3 more to go!" he exclaimed jubilantly.

Amy gave a small smile then speed walked away from him. Lance quickly lowered his arm shouting, "Hey Amy wait! What's the rush?"

Amy kept walking without looking and replied, "I just have lots to do Lance!"

Lance ran catching up to her. "Hey Amy wait slow down," he replied to her grabbing her shoulder gently. Amy stopped and turned to him. Lance looked at her carefully seemingly scrutinizing her. She shifted under his penetrating gaze, uncomfortable with where this was going.

"Amy have you been avoiding me lately?" asked Lance quietly, frowning in confusion down at her; a hurt look marring his features. "I can't help but notice that you've been acting differently since Friday, and I was just wondering if it was the movie or something else maybe, and if there was anything that I could do to help."

Amy huffed in irritation and shook off Lance's hand gently from on her shoulder. "No Lance, it has nothing to do with the movie Friday night; why does everyone keep saying that anyways? I just have a lot on my mind right now so I don't mean to be rude, really, but could you guys just give me a bit of breathing space?" asked Amy forcefully yet not trying to be impolite on purpose.

Lance gave her a slightly hurt look and nodded his head. "Yeah okay Amy, sorry for bothering you and everything."

Amy sighed and before Lance could walk away she placed her hand on his right arm. "Lance really I'm not mad at you, please don't think that this is what this is about because it's not really. I just do have a lot on my mind right now and I promise it will sort itself out soon," Amy insisted to him.

Lance seemed to cheer up slightly at that; giving Amy a smile. "Yeah okay girl, thanks, I was just starting to wonder if I had done or said something to you that had hurt your feelings."

"Umm no Lance it wasn't anything you said to me."

"Oh okay, well thanks for telling me Amy, and I'll just give you your space until you can come to terms with whatever it is."

"Thanks Lance, really."

Before she could say anything more, they heard a slight commotion down the hallway. Both of them turned to see what the fuss was about and saw a small crowd congregated in a circle at the end of the long corridor. Amy and Lance looked at one another, shrugged, and walked over to the crowd to see what the commotion was about.

As they came closer they could hear the loud piercing screeches of two girls screaming at one another. Amy and Lance pushed their way through the small crowd until they got to the front to see what had fascinated everyone so badly. Side by side, they looked on a scene that neither one thought they would ever get to see.

Standing in the center of the crowd was Missy, and one of her girls that used to tag along everywhere with her. Amy assumed that this girl was the one that took over "leadership" of Missy's gang when Missy herself was booted out; not just of being the leader, but also the gang in general. Amy rolled her eyes at this. Trust these two girls to start a scene over something stupid most likely.

Missy snarled at the other girl. "Shut your fat face Cathy; if it wasn't for me you would be nothing!"

Cathy's face twisted into an ugly sneer. "Whatever you washed up has been! You're just mad that you're not our leader anymore and that alone your nothing!"

Missy made a huffing sound at Cathy. "Whatever you bitch, just you wait, you'll see that you need me again someday."

"Go screw yourself Missy you're not queen bitch anymore I am, and what I say goes so screw off," Cathy snarled at the girl.

Both stared at the other for a few tense minutes. Everyone watched the both of them with bated breath wondering which girl would hit first. Amy glanced at the two of them and mentally sighed to herself at this disgusting display. Honestly, who talked like that outside of a movie, and at their age?

She snuck a glance at Lance who was standing beside her. Lance looked down at her and shook his head, disgust marring his otherwise perfect features. Amy nodded to him. She had to agree this was absolutely pathetic. Just when she was about to turn around and walk away from this scene the two girls, seemingly out of nowhere, launched themselves at each other.

Amy jumped in shock as the girls collided with each other and started tearing at each other's clothes and hair. Their hands looked like claws, grasping and shredding at anything that they could latch onto. Missy had grabbed Cathy's hair and was pulling her over so she bent at her waist then bringing her leg up to kick her. Cathy struggled and was able to throw Missy off after a few good blind swings. She then tackled Missy to the ground and straddled her, pummeling her body wherever she could reach with punches and slaps.

Amy turned to Lance a shocked gasp frozen on her face. "Lance! We have to separate them before something serious happens here!" Amy yelled at him desperately.

Lance looked at her and nodded. Quickly he moved forward and grabbed Cathy around her waist hauling her up and away from Missy that she was straddling. As he pulled her away from the other girl Amy ran around him and grabbed onto Missy pulling her away as far as she could. Jazz came through the crowd at this time. She gave the both of them looks as if saying; "Are you insane?" then quickly waltzed around the circle shouting at people to get lost.

"Okay everyone get out of here! Scram! That's right I'm talking to you Darrell! Get lost! Don't you all have exams to cram for?" Jazz screamed at everyone shooing them all away with her hands. "Bloody vultures!"

They all gave Jazz disgruntled looks but slowly dispersed. The crowd began to thin; finally when everyone was gone Jazz turned to look at them all.

"Seriously? You two helped Missy out?" asked Jazz staring around at all of them, "what the hell is wrong with you!?" she shouted at the two of them.

"Jazz, we couldn't just let them hit each other like that," Amy insisted to her best friend.

Jazz made a dismissive gesture at Amy. "Oh please Amy, the girl was going to do the same thing to you just two months ago and yet you still want to protect her? You must be some kind of saint, no jokes."

Amy rolled her eyes at this and opened her mouth to reply, but Missy started to fight out of her hold. She slapped her hands away and bolted to create more space between her and Jazz. Turning around to stare at the both of them, her hair in disarray along with her clothes ripped, and a slap mark along with a bruise adorning her face, she looked a downright mess.

Missy turned to them and snarled. "I don't need any of your help! Screw off and stay away from me, especially you, you little freak!" Missy shouted at Amy pointing one of her broken nails at her.

Jazz frowned and stepped in between her and Missy. "Hey, back off you slut! It's not Amy's fault that she's just such a perfect angel that she decided to help you, even after you were a horrible bully and a bitch to her!"

Missy rolled her eyes and stomped away down the hall; rounding the corner at the far end, they lost sight of her shortly after, never once did she look back. Cathy wriggled away from Lances' grasp and twitched in the opposite direction. The three of them watched her go till she was out of sight as well.

"You're welcome!" Jazz shouted after her as they heard a door open then slam closed. "Those witches are bitches I swear."

"We did a good deed at least," Lance said.

"That's awesome and all Lance, but I'm saving up my good deeds in my cute little piggy bank for the time being, instead of blowing it on them," Jazz retorted.

Lance glanced at Jazz and gave a little shrug of his shoulders and a smile at her. Amy glanced between the two of them then turned on her heel and started to walk away. Jazz saw her leaving and shouted after her.

"Amy where ya goin?"

"I have another exam in a few hours; I'm going to get some last minute revision in before then! See you in the dorm later Jazz!" Amy shouted back to her friend. With that, she walked out of the school doors and into the bright and clear wintry day.

Jazz and Lance looked at one another. Lance shrugged in confusion at Jazz's enquiring look. Jazz turned back around to where she had seen Amy exit the building; a frown covered her features as she wondered what was going on in her friends head.

**~x~**

**7 o'clock**

**~x~**

Amy and Jazz sat together on the couch flipping through TV channels later that night. She was exhausted from her other exam earlier today that she had just wanted to sleep, but the urge to talk to Jazz was becoming overbearing. Jazz was thinking along the same lines at the exact same time as Amy. Turning slowly to her friend, Jazz looked at her. Amy glanced at Jazz and raised her eyebrow.

"Okay Amy spill, what's been up with you lately?" asked Jazz. She wasn't completely blind; she'd been noticing Amy acting weird for a while now ever since Friday, and she couldn't help the concern that was beginning to eat away at her.

"It's really nothing Jazz; I just have a lot on my mind lately." Although she had wanted to talk to Jazz, it seemed that when the opportunity presented itself she clammed up instantly. Mentally rolling her eyes, she conceded to herself that she was full of contradictions and a hypocrite on her worse days.

Jazz sighed dramatically. "Okay Amy cut the crap; I know you've had something on your mind today, and yesterday, and the day before. Seriously since Friday you've been acting weird, so tell me or do I have to bribe you?"

Amy laughed at Jazz's antics and shook her head. "No it's okay Jazz; actually I was planning on telling you what's been up today."

Jazz raised both her eyebrows at this. "Oh good; this saves me the effort of actually having to do anything."

She smiled, and then began to recount everything she had overheard Friday night between Lance and Gabe. Jazz listened intently to her go over her story in detail, frowning in thought at a couple of places. Finally, after about 10 minutes or so of straight talking Amy finished her story and quieted to wait for Jazz's response. Jazz scratched the back of her head; finally, she looked up at Amy.

"Okay so that's everything you heard right?" asked Jazz.

"Yeah that's everything that I can remember anyways," Amy replied shrugging at Jazz, "what do you think it means Jazz?"

Jazz shrugged at her friend's question. "I don't know to be honest girl, and it could be just about anything."

"Yeah but what do you think it means right off the bat?" Amy persisted with her friend, "I mean, keep him out of the slammer? Jail Jazz? Did Gabe do something really bad? Maybe he's dangerous or something."

Jazz got up and paced at this. "Look Amy, we can't just rush into something like this. I mean we can't make judgments. You could be freaking out over something that really has no meaning and if Gabe or Lance find out about this you could hurt their feelings."

Amy stared at Jazz. "But Jazz, Lance said that he knew Gabe was just starting up again, what the hell is that exactly supposed to mean? And all the accidents and mental breakdowns happening around here…."

"So you think Gabe has something to do with everyone losing it around here all of a sudden?"

"I don't know, Jazz! It's a thought though, and it is odd."

"See? That's just it Amy! We don't know and until we know for sure; I say we act like you never heard anything. We'll both just keep an eye on the two and figure it out from there, but for now I say we don't get worked up about this."

"Jazz, if you don't mind my asking, how much, or well I should say, do you know Lance?"

Jazz shrugged. "Were not maybe like close, close but he is a good friend, and we both started school together the same year," Jazz answered Amy's question without much thought.

"So have you ever met his parents before?" asked Amy.

Jazz froze where she was standing. "Now that you mention it no; Lance doesn't talk about them at all and I've never seen pictures of them."

Amy and Jazz both frowned at each other over this revelation. That was weird, one of the most popular people in school, and richest, and yet it seemed like he had no parents. How did that make any sense?

"It could be a coincidence," Jazz replied trying to blow if off, "I mean maybe his parents are just business freaks that don't have time for anything else."

"Yeah," Amy mumbled in reply as she frowned.


	17. Hurtful Actions and Disguised Angels

**A/N:** Just an FYI for anyone that reads this chapter there is violence in it so I would just caution against that if it offends you. Otherwise I hope you guys enjoy!

* * *

><p><strong>~x~<strong>

**2 Weeks Later**

**~x~**

Jazz lounged lazily on the couch in the dorm room. Holding the remote up, she clicked through their meager supply of television channels. Sighing, she rolled her eyes as she flicked through another Jerry Springer show, catfight starting and bras flying on live television, as the crowd cheered Jerry in the background.

'Honestly how can people watch that crap?' She thought to herself flicking through the channels again.

Finally, her perusing paid off and Dr. Phil came up on the screen. Jazz's eyes lit up instantly and she jumped, sitting up ram rod straight.

"Yes! Dr. Phil!" Jazz shouted loudly into the quiet dorm room. As she yelled this, the remote in her hand went flying out of her grasp and flew across the room. Just then, the dorm room door was starting to open.

"Jazz you here? I just got my…."

The voice was cut off as the remote went flying into the wall right beside the door, eliciting a terrified squeal from the person on the other side. Upon contact with the wall, the remote did a mini explosion. It's back popping open and batteries flying all over. One of them pinged off the lamp and skidded across the length of the room. The door opened fully, and slowly, after a short while and Amy peaked her head in, an annoyed frown on her features.

Jazz remained sitting on the couch not even noticing the mini chaos that she had just caused mere seconds ago. She stared with rapt fixation at the TV not even seeming to notice as Amy walked into the room.

Amy rolled her eyes. "Jazz, a little more warning next time you decide to attack me for trying to come in through the front door might be nice."

Jazz nodded her head not even bothering to say something. Which lead Amy to try again. "So I just got my exam results back," she said to Jazz, "and I got a letter from Professor Cox, I don't know what it says though I still have yet to open it."

Amy trailed off as she looked towards her best friend seeing if she had even seemed to notice that Amy had said anything, or hell, was even standing in front of her. Jazz seemed to not have noticed what so ever. Huffing in irritation she breathed air out of her puffed out cheeks. Rolling her eyes, she turned to look at the TV and what had captivated her friend's attention.

'I should have known,' Amy thought to herself, as she took in Dr. Phil playing on the screen, not able to stop a small smirk that slid across her lips.

Just a week ago, Jazz and her had gotten into a heated discussion about Dr. Phil. Jazz had absolutely adored the man but Amy didn't seem to see the huge hype about him, at least when it came to her friend. When she had said this to Jazz all her friend could come up with was to look like a huge puffer fish, as if Amy had slapped her in the face with what she had said. All that Amy had taken away from that conversation was not to mess with Jazz when it came to Dr. Phil and to give her space when she was watching the show.

'Extreme circumstances call for extreme measures.' She thought this as she looked up to the ceiling; almost asking for divine guidance.

"Jazz, you're as colourful as a baboon's backside and laugh just like a hyena on laughing gas," Amy deadpanned to her friend.

Jazz nodded and gave her the thumbs up. "That's nice Aim's; now shush this is just getting good."

Amy shook her head and looked up to the sky once more. 'Please give me strength for this, like I said earlier extreme circumstances call for extreme measures.'

With that, Amy walked over to the TV, leaned down, and turned the power button off. The screen cut to black and Amy heard an indignant squawk come from behind. Turning she saw Jazz staring at her, her eyes were huge like dinner plates as she looked at her with a hurt expression.

Amy sighed and held her hands up in defense. "It was the only way to get your attention, and besides, as soon as I'm done telling you everything that I have to tell you, I'll turn it back on, okay? Sound fair?"

Jazz let out a huff then nodded her head slowly. "Fine; then hurry up and tell me whatever it is you wanted to tell me because I'm missing valuable time here." She mimed tapping a watch on her wrist. "Before you start though, this has nothing to do with the whole Gabe and Lance thing again, is it? Because I swear girl, if you start up with this again, my head is going to explode," Jazz whimpered out clutching at her head as if to prove to Amy what could possibly happen.

Amy rolled her eyes again, for what felt like the hundredth time since entering their dorm. "No Jazz it has nothing to do with them."

Over the course of the last two weeks, ever since Amy had confided in Jazz what she had overheard the two saying that winter night, she couldn't stop thinking about it. She quite literally drove Jazz up the wall and then some. Finally, her friend had booted her out of the dorm room claiming that she needed some peace and quiet before she quite literally exploded, and told her to go stick her head in a snow bank and cool off. Ever since that episode; Amy had decided that she had pushed Jazz as far as she was going to get her for now, and resolved to let that issue rest for the time being.

"Oh, well if that's the case," Jazz sighed gratefully and propped her feet on the table, "by all means continue then."

"Well as I was saying before, I got my exam results back!" Amy cheered holding up the envelope in her hand and jumping up and down in the same spot.

Jazz stared at her with her eyebrow raised as she watched her friend dance on the spot. "Really? That's it?"

Amy stopped and stared at her friend. "This is big news Jazz! Our futures are held in these envelopes! Didn't you go get yours yet?"

Jazz huffed tiredly. "I swear Amy, when I wanted you to loosen up, jumping up and down on the spot because of exam results wasn't exactly what I had in mind; and for your information, no I have not. I have better things to do with my time."

This time it was Amy's turn to stare at Jazz with an eyebrow raised. "Umm like what? Sitting on the couch and flipping through the channels like a couch potato?"

Jazz snorted at this. "It takes effort to do that Aim, clicking the remote requires thumb strength," Jazz explained winking at her friend.

"Anyways its big news to me! But what if I did horribly and I actually failed them?"

"That's a joke right? You fail? Not possible! You probably got the best marks in this whole entire college! Sheesh just relax and open the bloody envelope already would ya?" Jazz waved away Amy's fears casually.

Amy looked down at the envelope as if it would explode in her hands, if she merely looked at it the wrong way. Carefully she tore the top off and gently slid the papers out that rested inside.

Anxiously Amy scanned the contents of her exam results. Jazz watched her friend closely to see if she gave off any ideas about the results. A few minutes ticked by and Jazz started to tap her foot against the coffee table impatiently. Finally, she couldn't take it anymore.

"Earth to Amy! Hello? What happened?" Jazz shouted.

Amy jumped, startled, and looked at her friend sitting on the couch. At this, she blushed bright red and fidgeted with the corner of her exam results. Jazz raised both eyebrows at this nervous display.

"Let me see." Jazz expectantly held out her hand.

Amy slowly walked closer and put the exam in her friend's hand. As Jazz took it and turned it to face her Amy started blabbering, "I mean I could have done better and all and I know I made a couple of stupid mistakes, but I guess it went well…"

Jazz's eyes bulged as she saw Amy's results and she stared up at her friend with wide eyes. Any wider and they probably would have fallen out from her head. "Amy, you got extremely high nineties in all of your exam results and to boot you even got 100% in a mythology course! Wait mythology?" Jazz frowned staring at the result, "I didn't know that you took a mythology course."

Amy shrugged becoming redder and redder as time passed. "It's just kind of a big interest for me, I love myths and we studied about angels and tricksters and I found it intriguing," Amy trailed off mumbling quietly.

Jazz shook her head in amazement. "Hey, wait, didn't you say that you also got a letter from Professor Cox today to? What does he want?"

Amy quickly jumped again and nodded her head frantically digging into her coat pocket. "Yeah! I got it when I went to pick up my exam results! I'll open it now."

Jazz placed the results on the table and watched as her friend sliced open the envelope. Quickly taking out the folded piece of paper, she scanned the contents. "He wants to meet me today whenever I'm free. Says something about talking about my exam results and next term; also just to let myself in whenever I come over."

Jazz nodded her head at this. "Makes sense; I mean he was one of the professors that helped grade the exams, or so I heard, so he probably knows about yours. He's just interested in what your plans are and probably wants to give you a hand with them."

Amy shrugged her shoulders slightly. "I don't see why I need his help though for this, but if he wants to meet then who am I to refuse."

Jazz nodded. "You going to go now? It's 4 you might be able to catch him still."

Amy looked at the clock. "Yeah I might as well, I'll see you later Jazz!"

Jazz just watched her friend zoom out of the room and the door close behind her with a slam. She could hear Amy's retreating foot falls as she ran down the hall. Finally, after a few seconds nothing else could be heard and it was relatively silent; well as silent as it could get in a dorm room; she sighed in relief and looked around for the remote. If she hurried, she could catch the last ten minutes of her show before she was so rudely interrupted. Looking around Jazz frowned.

"Where did I put it?" she mumbled to herself. Then she looked up and saw the remote by the door against the wall where she had thrown it earlier when Amy had came in. The batteries were scattered across the room as she scanned the area.

"Oops and there goes another one," mumbled Jazz, "great now what am I gonna tell the head office this time."

**~x~**

**Professor Cox's Room**

**~x~**

Amy panted for breath at the top of the stairs on the third floor. She ran as fast as she could so that she could catch the professor before he left for the day. Looking down both ends of the hallway, she noticed that no one was standing around. Straightening her jacket, she began to walk towards the room that she was in only a few months ago. Upon reaching the door, she steadied her breathing, raised her hand, and did a clear knock.

"Come in," a voice called from the other side of the room.

Amy nodded to herself and walked inside. Looking around the room as she came in; she noticed that it hadn't really changed much whatsoever, maybe a couple of new books here and there but otherwise nothing seemed out of place; which wasn't surprising. She saw Professor Cox sitting behind his desk quickly scribbling on a piece of paper in front of him. Softly she closed the door behind her; once she did, the Professor looked up and gave her a warm smile.

"Ahh Amy I was wondering if you would show today!" Professor Cox said joyfully.

Amy smiled thinly at him. Ever since she had seen him in the library with that other girl, she never could quite get herself to look at him the same way. Every time she thought of it, chills would run down her spine and gross her out tremendously. She went out of her way after all that to stay away from him, no matter what, and ironically here she was now in his office on what appeared to be a disserted floor.

"Well sit down, sit down!" Professor Cox exclaimed jubilantly to her, eagerly pointing to the chair that sat in front of his desk.

Amy hesitated not wanting to go too far into the room. 'Besides, who knows what's happened in here.' She couldn't help the thought crossing her mind.

"Umm its fine Professor, can I just stand? I don't believe this should take long should it?" she asked politely.

"Nonsense, Amy! Get comfortable!" said the Professor.

Mentally slamming her foot in her head, she trudged over to the chair. Professor Cox folded his hands in front of him and watched her as she became comfortable. Amy could have sworn that she saw a flash of something quickly in his eyes, but the next second he looked completely normal. She shrugged to herself and wrote it off.

"So, Amy, I happened to hear about your exam results and I must say I'm quite impressed!"

Shifting slightly in her seat she smiled at the professor tightly. "Thank you Professor, now why is it exactly that you wanted to see me?"

Professor Cox nodded his head and explained, "Oh it would be because I wanted to see if I could be of any assistance to the brightest student that has ever graced these halls! If you need my help what so ever in choosing your courses; say, for next term at all?"

Amy stared at the professor in confusion. Why would he be offering help now? It's not like she really needed it, she knew exactly what she was going to take. Never, in all her time being here so far, had she approached him asking for anything. So why would he be doing this?

"Actually Professor, with all due respect, I don't need help; I already know what courses I'm going to take; so it's fine."

Professor Cox didn't say anything, just stared at her. Amy shifted under his gaze uncomfortably as he kept his penetrating stare on her. She noticed before she had looked down that that same gleam was deep in his eyes, the one that she thought she had seen mere moments ago, it was back.

Suddenly, Professor Cox arose from his seat and walked around his desk to stand nearer to her. Amy jumped at the sudden movement but otherwise budge. He leaned against the desk and stared down at Amy; hands folded across his chest.

"Amy, you're a bright and brilliant girl, so you must know that around here I am a bit of a celebrity," Professor Cox said smiling a bright smile at her.

Amy just shrugged and shifted again in her seat attempting to achieve space between them; her efforts were in vain it seemed because the distance never changed. She rubbed her left hand along her other arm sensing goose bumps erupting all over her skin. Professor Cox watched this movement and his eyes blackened slightly. Amy's breath hitched at this as she watched one of his hands come closer and closer to her. Lightly he stroked his hand against her somewhat thin jacket.

"I mean, if you gave me a slight favor I'm sure I could make your stay here much smoother and enjoyable," Professor Cox said his voice becoming darker and hinting that danger was right around the corner.

Amy's eyes widened at what the professor was hinting at and quickly stood from her chair, sending it toppling over backwards, and backing up quickly from him. Professor Cox looked at her calmly as if her reaction to him was not surprising, just more of a hindrance.

"Amy, what's wrong?" asked Professor Cox feigning concern, "I just want to make your stay here more comfortable and be beneficial to the both of us, is anything seriously wrong with that?"

Amy shook as she stared at him not for a second taking her eyes off him. "Of course it is! That's sick! I would never sleep with you, and I don't need your help, I'm doing just fine on my own!"

Professor Cox smirked at her and took a step closer, in turn, Amy backed away from him. "Oh please Amy, do you really think that this is negotiable? Of course it isn't. I could make it so that you never passed another class again, and if you don't believe me then try me."

Amy's breath hitched at this but she kept backing away from him as he advanced towards her. Her back hit a wall suddenly, arms flying out to the sides, she turned her head in slight shock at hitting the solid surface behind her so soon; before she could move away though, Professor Cox was on her flattening his body against hers to keep her absolutely still.

Struggling against him, she tried to claw and kick, but all he did was laugh at her attempts, keeping her easily pinned. Instead, after a few seconds of this Amy heard a slight moan and felt some grinding against her. Something hard was poking and prodding against her stomach. Freezing she realized what it was and stopped all movement against him. Coming to another conclusion she opened her mouth to start screaming, in the hopes someone would hear her; before she could even utter a sound though, Professor Cox's hand clamped down on her mouth and muffled any noise that she attempted to make.

"Now, now, Amy, don't create a fuss; think of this as us just trying to get better acquainted with each other," Professor Cox told her in a sickeningly sweet voice.

With his free hand now, she felt one hard tug, heard a loud rip echo through the office and her coat slipped away from her body. At this point Amy lost all sense and her panic took over her completely. Kicking and screaming into the hand still covering her mouth, she tried to push the man off of her but he was too big and strong for her to move and get a clear hit.

Professor Cox smirked at her and began to lower his head towards her exposed neck now. Amy had a moment of clarity through her panic induced fog; she quickly pulled one of her fists back as far as she could while against the wall and sent it pummeling into Professor Cox's right eye with all the strength she could muster after her earlier struggle.

Professor Cox reeled back in shock and pain as he uttered a short grunt at the blow. He released his hold on her enough that it was all she needed to break free. Quickly sprinting around him while he was still dazed, she made for the door, before she could reach it though she felt a hard yank on her long blonde hair. Screeching slightly in surprise, her automatic response was to reach up to the harsh grip in her hair and start scratching at the hand holding her.

Using her nails she created bloody furrows in his hands, twisting her body every which way in blind panic in an attempt to get away; but his grip remained firm. With an angry snarl, he wrenched her back towards him quickly spinning her around to face him. Amy opened her mouth to try to let out another loud piercing scream, but a hand quickly backhanded her full force against her cheek. Her head snapped to the side at the force of the impact and her eyes saw stars at the hard blow.

Professor Cox grabbed her harshly by her upper arms and held her within his grasp. "Did you honestly think that you could get away that easily you little slut?" he spat at her.

Amy was in too much of a daze from the slap still to really respond to him and moaned slightly at the headache that she was starting to develop from the pain; all she could do was keep her head to the side in complete astonishment at what was happening to her. The naïve thought went through her mind, that this didn't happen to people like her; the sad reality however, was that it happened every single day to people, from every walk of life.

Professor Cox huffed at her response to him. "Well whatever, I still get what I want in the end," and with that, he dug his mouth into her neck. He bit into her roughly and Amy let out a pained and startled scream. Struggling again, she attempted to get out of his hold while trying to hold the dizziness and nausea back. Her head was spinning as she tried to fight free but it seemed no matter what she did, she couldn't get free.

Suddenly, Amy realized that her legs were free and not restricted like earlier. Quickly raising up her knee with all her strength she kneed him in the crotch as hard as she could. Professor Cox quickly released her and slumped to the ground clutching himself in agony, as he groaned on the floor below her.

Without thinking, Amy spun around on her heel and ran as fast as she could from the office, on her shaking legs. Weaving around the hallway as if she was in a drunken stupor, she quickly made for the steps. Starting to descend the stairs, she had tears clouding her vision and her loud hiccupping sobs almost incapacitated her as she stumbled and caught herself against the rail. On the last stairwell she lost her balance and went flying down the last ten steps. Getting up as quickly as she could she threw the door open and ran out into the cold night.

The January night was cold, with frost forming on the tree in front of her, or was that just her tears? Amy shook her head and started to hobble down the stairs at the front, completely realizing now that she didn't have a coat, seeing as it was just torn in half. It started to lightly snow again big, fat, fluffy white flakes, like an innocent gesture of the season but one that made her sob as she looked at the gentle white flakes. Ignoring it, she hobbled around the building as fast as her bruised and injured body would take her.

Choked sobs still caught, and came from her, making her lungs try to gasp for breath and her tears freeze on her cheeks, seconds later though new hot tears took their place and ran down her face. Her cheek was throbbing horribly and she could taste the metallic taste of blood in her mouth.

Suddenly, a voice shouted out her name in the dark, "Amy!"

Amy gasped in pain and fear at someone seeing her like this. Quickly she picked up her pace and hobbled around the corner of the building trying to lose the person. Clutching onto her arms she tried to go even faster but missed the patch of slippery ice and slipped landing on the frozen cement hard.

Footsteps rounded the corner and came to a sudden halt as they saw her poor and crumpled figure slumped on the concrete.

"Amy?" a soft voice whispered out.

Amy knew that voice but when she tried to turn her head the dizziness returned and made her slump towards the ground again. The individual quickly ran up next to her, gently cradling her against their hard chest.

Amy whimpered in fear and pain, tensing slightly at the closeness. Then she smelled…candy?

A surprised gasp sounded from above her. "Amy what happened to you? Who did this?"

Before she could respond to them, she saw the darkness on the edges of her vision and her mind becoming lucid. Before the darkness claimed her she uttered out, "Please don't let him hurt me again."

The darkness had almost consumed her, but not before she heard a whispered, hard voice say, "Don't worry Amy your safe, I'll watch over you and protect you."

With that, the darkness closed in on her and she knew no more.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** well that guy is a dick but something tells me he gets what's coming to him very soon ;)


	18. What Goes Around Comes Around

Amy started to first become aware of her surroundings through touch. Something warm and fuzzy was surrounding her; her head was cushioned on something soft and silky. Her body was warm and through her closed eyelids, she could see the light of sunshine, leaving her warm and comforted. Without thinking, she started to shift slightly to the side to hide from the bright light that was heating her, but winced as she felt her body protest at the sudden movement. Scrunching her eyebrows in confusion, she thought puzzled what had happened to her to make her cheek sting and her neck to hurt on the side.

Amy's breath hitched as she realized what had happened to her last night. Shooting her eyes wide open at this she sat up straight in bed and winced at the sudden movement. Her body was stiff all over, not just on her neck and face. Then she remembered falling down the stairs and tripping on the concrete the other night in her panic to get as far away from the faculty building as possible.

'Oh my god.' Amy thought. 'I was almost raped last night, if I didn't get away…'

Shaking her head, she attempted to banish those thoughts from her mind; her head spinning from the sudden movement. Clutching it lightly in one of her hands, she stopped any sudden motions of her body. The idea that something like that had actually almost happened to her completely rattled her. Sure, she had heard things before, of sexual harassment on the news before and rape cases, but for it to actually almost happen to her completely threw her for a loop. It put into question her safety, and if she could ever defend herself in the future, should she ever be attacked.

'What a twisted person to do something like that; now where am I?'

Amy looked around the room. A window was in front of her letting in the sunshine. The room's walls were black and she could see plush white carpeting coating the entire floor. The wardrobe to her left hand side was a dark ebony colour as well as the nightstand beside her. The bed she was in was the only colour in the room. The bedspread was a deep red and the pillows were royal blue; everything soft like real silk.

'Wait, blue?' Amy did a double take. 'Huh, someone has an interesting taste in bedroom furnishings.'

Shrugging to herself, she noticed that the bed frame was dark ebony like the wardrobe and nightstand, and that there were black curtains on either side of the window in front of her.

After she took in all her surroundings, she inched her way across the bed to try to stand up. Wincing at the movement, she eventually made it to the right hand side of the bed and swung her legs timidly over the side.

Hissing slightly at the stiffness of her body, she moaned in appreciation as she felt the soft and springy carpet underneath her toes. Standing slowly while gripping one of the posts tightly at the head of the bed, she steadied herself then began to walk towards the door that she had noticed earlier on the far right hand side of the room.

Making it to the door Amy paused and gently pressed her ear against it. Listening intently for any noise on the other side to signify life, she heard nothing. Steeling herself, she grabbed the doorknob and slowly turned. Pushing it open carefully she left it ajar just enough so that she could peak into the room unhindered on the other side.

Through the door, she couldn't make out the entire room, but it didn't look like anyone was here at the moment. Deciding that it would be best to explore her surroundings Amy pushed the door the rest of the way open and her eyes bulged at what met her.

The room looked as if it had been cut out of the seventies, or at least half of it.

The floor was checkered tile all the way across, black leather couches and chairs, which were resting on a shaggy zebra striped rug, surrounded a flat screen TV mounted on the far wall. A glass stand sat beside the large couch. A glass coffee table was the centerpiece in that area of the room. Magazines and a chapter book or two were piled on it. There was a bookshelf against the wall also black. The walls were white with black shapes of differing sizes all over them. A black bar with white plastic stools sat grouped together to her left. Small stands sat around the room in the corners room, holding red lamps on top of them. A door was just beyond the bar but it was closed. Another door was right next to the door that she had just come out of but Amy decided to thoroughly explore this space first.

While the living room had personal style, the kitchen was lacking. Plain, brown cupboards lined the wall matching the fake wood paneling of the exact same colour and texture. A plain fridge sat in an alcove, it looked a little more yellow then white, and several years out of date. A white stove sat near the wall that also looked slightly too old. The countertop was a darker brown than the cupboards, with tiling on the back wall that was mainly white with splotches of brown on some tiles here and there. A coffee machine and a microwave sat on top of the counter along with a bowl of sweets. A plain rickety table and two chairs were all that comprised for sitting arrangements in the kitchen.

A door was on the far side of the room across from her, and she assumed that that was the exit to the apartment.

Slowly shuffling over to the coffee table, she winced at the cold feeling of the floor on her feet. Making it, and sighing in relief when her feet touched the smooth and warm rug, she picked up one of the books.

"Desserts for the family," Amy read aloud the title of the book, "huh, someone sure is a sweet freak; I mean this is an entire cook book on how to make different desserts."

Gently putting the book down, she looked at the magazines. Amy frowned to herself as she saw what they were.

"World's Weekly News?" Amy mumbled aloud again, "wow who reads stuff like this?"

A cough sounded from behind her. "That would be me."

Whirling around, she dropped the magazine onto the floor in her startlement. Standing behind her was Gabe. He gazed at her with sad eyes as he perused her form up and down.

"Gabe? You live here?" asked Amy staring at him with wide eyes.

"Um, yeah, sorry about just taking you here."

"We are still on campus though, right?"

Gabe raised an eyebrow at her. "Of course we are; where do you think I would fly you off too exactly?"

"Just curious," she mumbled.

Gabe stared at her with a penetrating stare not saying anything more to her. Amy fidgeted nervously under his thorough look.

Finally, not being able to take the constant gaze she said, "What? I'm not going to snap in half you know."

Gabe sighed wearily. "Amy you collapsed on the cement yesterday…"

"I tripped."

"At 5:30 in the evening…"

"Okay so it was a little late."

"With bruises littering your body and a cheek that looks as if it's been slapped, hard…"

"I just really tripped; you know I can be a klutz Gabe."

"And crying, as if you just had a traumatic experience."

"I can't help it if I'm female and we have mood swings every month."

Gabe sighed in frustration at Amy's one-worded answers and decided to cut to the chase. "Amy listen to me, you have to tell me what happened. If someone hurt you, it is imperative that you tell someone, talk to them. I can help you with this."

Amy scoffed at him. "Gabe, how could you possibly be able to understand me with this?" she said gesturing back at him waving vaguely, "look at you! You're muscled and you stopped that person when he was going to punch me a few weeks back with only one hand. I'm sorry but I sincerely doubt that you would almost be…"

Amy cut herself off before she could even utter the word aloud. Admitting it aloud and to Gabe would finally, fully acknowledging it and that would just be the final stone in her mind. She was supposed to be strong! This was her new start! She swore to herself when she left her last home far behind that she would not be the same weakling that she was, but upon getting here, she had proven to herself that she was still the same weak person that she was. First with Missy picking on her, then overhearing Gabe and Lance talking that one night and being too afraid to confront them, and now this? She had tried to make another vow after the whole thing with Jazz; and while she had been able to uphold it, she still felt like the same scrawny girl that had come here to begin with.

Amy raised her hand up to her forehead, turned fully from Gabe, and choked on a sob. Unbeknownst to her Gabe was staring at her back, utter sadness radiating off his body, and his eyes spoke volumes. If Amy had been facing him, she would have seen Gabe's eyes become like twin liquid pools of hot shining gold.

Gabe's fists clenched at his sides. He had a good idea who had done something like this to Amy. There was only one person who he knew would force themselves on students. It was amazing the type of stuff you saw as a janitor, and people were quick to write you off as not a threat, because really what were you going to say? He could feel his insides bubble, exploding with anger as he silently watched Amy's back fall up and down, heaving from her heavy sobs that she tried to choke back.

Gabe walked up to her silently from behind, and lightly placed his two hands on her shoulders. Amy stiffened in his arms, but he began to mutter soothing endearments into her ear slowly feeling her relax against his body.

"Shh Aim don't cry, I gotcha, and I assure you that your safe with me," Gabe quietly intoned to her.

Amy turned around, and wrapped her arms around him, hiding her face in his chest, and collapsing into sobs. Gabe rested his head on top of her head and rubbed his hands gently up and down her back.

Amy stiffened at his touch, and let out a slight whimper of pain. At the noise, Gabe halted and looked down at her in shock and horror.

"Amy, how badly did he hurt you?"

Amy pulled away from Gabe somewhat and wiped her tears off on the edge of her sleeve from the same shirt she had been wearing yesterday. She stared at Gabe fearfully.

"Umm well," Amy started to whimper out as she twisted her hands together in front of her, "he really didn't get too far with me. He slapped my face and left a bad bite mark on my neck and maybe a couple of bruises on my arms from his strong grip but the other bruises came from when I fell down the stairs most likely."

Gabe lowered his hands from around her; staring at her with a hard glint in his eyes. Amy's breath hitched in her lungs and it felt as if someone had doused her with a bucket of ice water as she took in Gabe's angry visage.

'Is he mad at me?' She wondered to herself frantically. "I mean, I can't blame him if he is! He probably thinks I'm such a weakling.'

Amy started to cry again as she looked down at the floor. Irrational thinking was clouding her mind and better judgement as thoughts like this swirled around inside her like a hurricane, dampening all reason.

Gabe came back to his senses when he heard Amy begin to cry. Looking back at her aghast, he gently lifted her chin up, cupping it in the palm of his hand.

"Amy, why are you crying again?"

'Geez Gabe, what a stupid thing to say, you only just found her practically raped on the sidewalk and you ask her why she's crying?' Gabe did a mental eye roll at his poor choice of words.

Amy hiccupped and replied, "Because you hate me now."

Gabe stared back at her in shock. "Aim why would I hate you?" How could she possibly think something like this?

"Because I couldn't fight him off better! He almost won and I feel so dirty right now!"

Breaking down into sobs, she collapsed on the couch next to her and cried out slightly at the pain her body felt at the sudden movement. Heaving sobs wrenched themselves up from deep within her soul. She thought she had cried all that she could, but it kept coming and coming. It felt as if she was a never-ending fountain that kept producing water.

Gabe sighed sadly and gently, slowly, sat down beside her. Carefully he pulled the shivering, sobbing friend of his closer into his body and let her rest back against his chest, as his own back rested against the armrest and the corner of the couch.

Amy had stiffened slightly at the sudden closeness and touch, but relaxed quickly at smelling Gabe's familiar cinnamon scent. He smelled of everything sweet but underneath that scent, you could smell the faint whiff of a masculine male that only men could give off. Even under that, she could still smell something else but failed to pin point exactly what it was.

"Amy, I would never be mad at you, especially for something like that," Gabe, scolded her gently, "it wasn't your fault that something like that happened and it could have been a whole lot worse; so I'm thankful that you could get away as fast as you could. It makes me feel guilty to know that I wasn't there this time to help you."

Amy leaned her head back on Gabe's shoulder and stared up at him and his sorrow clouded eyes. She could see the guilt and waves of despair, hurt, and more importantly anger brimming just below the surface. He reminded her of a ticking time bomb, one that could go off, and would go off, at any second.

"Gabe it wasn't your fault, it's not like you could have just popped out of nowhere and helped me, or that you're my guardian angel or something; so, what I mean is, there is no reason for you to feel bad about something like this. Sometimes bad things just happen and you can't control them."

Gabe stared at her still in sadness and Amy huffed out a breath in irritation.

"Tell you what, I won't feel bad if you won't okay?" she said to him winking slightly.

"Aim…" Gabe started to say but Amy shook her head again quickly cutting him off.

"No Gabe, it's not up for negotiations it's a simple okay," she firmly stated.

Gabe swallowed and nodded. "Okay."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

"Pinky swear?" Amy held up her pinky on her left hand.

Gabe chuckled slightly at this and Amy could feel his hard muscles under his shirt move and shift, bunching strongly under her small body. It made her blush as she realized that they were sitting in an intimate fashion.

"Pinky swear," Gabe responded and held up his pinky so that they both could join them and shake.

"Seriously though I'm gonna beat the crap out of that son of a..." Gabe started to say but Amy quickly shushed him.

"No Gabe, you can't do anything to him! Promise me! I don't want attention to be drawn to this; and if you do something that's all there will be! Please, I just want a normal school year, or as close to one as I can get," she pleaded to Gabe.

"Okay Aim shh I won't do anything and I promise that," Gabe gently whispered to her, "but if he tries something like this again the promise is all off."

Amy nodded in relief.

Gabe stared at the wall opposite him. His amber eyes burned again with liquid intensity and from within their depths what appeared to be an inferno was raging just below the surface.

'He's not getting away with this,' Gabe thought to himself as he comforted Amy in his arms.

**~x~**

**Mid February**

**~x~**

Professor Cox walked to the main school building late after regular school hours. He was carrying his case and jingling his office keys in one hand. Breath misting in front of him, from the cold air, he moved the keys in his hand around trying to find the right one to let him in the building.

'I knew I should have graded those papers ages ago,' Professor Cox thought to himself as he walked up the steps.

He stopped abruptly and turned; there standing with her foot raised up on the stone slab was a young woman, probably around the age of twenty. She had shoulder length, dark, curly hair. From what he could see, she had a gorgeous body and his own lustful feelings heated up as he stared at her.

Clearing his throat he asked her, "Can I help you?"

Startled the girl looked up, shocked for a split second, then smiled widely at him. His heart rate picked up at her gorgeous gaze. Dark chocolate brown eyes stared at him, round cheeks that were slightly pink from the cold, thin eyebrows, a perfectly straight nose and beautiful even white teeth graced her features. She was like his perfect dream girl standing right in front of him.

"Oh, um, yes; I was just wondering if I could talk to you about something?" the woman asked demurely gently biting her lip and twisting her body from side to side, in a nervous gesture.

Professor Cox smiled warmly at her but decided to keep up appearances, just in case.

"I'm sorry but my office hours are from 3 till 5:30," he responded politely to her.

Turning he started to go back up the stairs when the woman stopped him again.

"Please! I promise it won't take long at all!" she said desperately.

Professor Cox stared at her for a split second. Finally, he cracked a smile at her and nodded in the direction of the doors.

"Okay, but let's be quick then," he said to her gently.

The woman smiled a warm smile at him and gently climbed the steps next to him. Her footfalls were so dainty he almost didn't hear them while she climbed beside him. He couldn't help but notice the gentle sway of her very feminine hips as well, as they came up to the main doors.

They both got up to his office five minutes later. Turning on the light right beside the entrance, Professor Cox walked behind his desk and took off his jacket, draping it gently over the back of his chair; the woman walking up to his desk and picking up a book resting on it. He turned back to see her staring at the cover.

"Such a handsome photo," she purred at him.

Professor Cox smirked at the compliment and nodded. "Yes, one of my better ones I have to say," he responded to her chuckling. She laughed with him to.

"So how is that research paper going then?" he asked her as he poured himself a glass of water.

"Oh professor I have a slight confession to make," she replied in answer shyly swaying her body back and forth and biting her bottom lip again.

"Oh? And what might that be?" he asked her curiously.

"I'm not actually one of your students."

Professor Cox raised an eyebrow at her. "Really? Then why are you here?"

Instead of answering, the woman just gave him a lustful look and bit her bottom lip again. Professor Cox paid more attention to her teeth biting her plump bottom lip, watching as it swelled up with blood, turning a deep cherry red. She searched his face for something. Professor Cox could feel himself becoming hot from her intense stare. Finally, the girl seemed to realize that she was possibly barking up the wrong tree. Looking down dejectedly at the floor, she put her hands behind her back and backed up a step.

"I'm sorry, I must have been confused," she said desperately starting to turn away from him.

"Wait."

Stopping, the woman turned to look at him again, a new and fervent light shining out from her eyes. Professor Cox walked around his desk to stand on the other side that she was on, and faced her full on.

"You're young and impressionable, and I am kind of a celebrity around these parts," he said gently to her; reaching his right hand up to gently cup her cheek in his grasp, "it would be wrong of me to take advantage of you, and I don't think I could live with myself then."

The woman smiled at him as he trailed off gently then raised her face closer to his. Staring into her eyes for a split second, he then leaned over and captured her lips with his in a passionate kiss. The two clutched at each other kissing ravenously between them; as if starving for the attention; tongues entwined, teeth clashing against one another.

Suddenly the woman's skin began to change. It became flaky and ghostly white, almost like curdled milk. Flaking off in places to reveal what looked like pockmarks and other holes in her skin.

Professor Cox felt the sudden change and opened his eyes. Staring at her in shock he quickly stepped away from her. Staring at her in absolute horror, he backed up farther away, putting the desk between the two of them. Her eyes had turned a milky white and stared at him blindly. She looked like a zombie.

The woman took a step closer to him and asked, "What's wrong? Don't you like me? Don't you want me?"

He continued to stare at her in horror as she came closer to him.

**~x~**

**Outside The Main Building**

**~x~**

Gabe whistled to himself as he pulled the keys attached at his belt towards the lock on the door. Slipping one of many keys that jingled from his belt, and twisting it quickly, he locked the main door. Letting the keys, snap back to the waist on his pants he turned around and started to walk away.

Looking around the deserted grounds, he breathed in a breath of fresh air. There was still some slight snow clumped around but it was all melting quickly with spring fast approaching and mild weather having been around for the last week. Winter still refused to loosen its hold completely, but that would change in another few weeks at the most. A slight fog was settled on the grounds and clinged to the grass and plants below.

Skipping down the steps, he started to make his way back to his apartment on campus. Suddenly, he heard a whoosh and crack that came from behind him. Startled out of whistling he glanced behind. His features schooled into a blank mask but on the inside he was smirking and laughing like crazy.

There lying on the steps was Professor Cox very much dead. A pool of blood was leaking off the back of his head and dripping onto the step below his prone body.

Smirking Gabe leaned down next to him and whispered lowly as if he could still hear him, "You said so yourself that you couldn't live with yourself if you touched her."


	19. Broken Promises and Fragile Hearts

**~x~**

**Back Around Mid-January**

**~x~**

Amy walked back to her dorm room with Gabe closely beside her. She had borrowed a jacket from him, seeing as her other one had been torn right in half; shuddering from the unwanted memories that struggled to burst forth from the back of her mind. Clamping down on them again, she shook her head gently and kept walking, the cold winter air acting as a balm to keep her memories away.

Amy could feel tears trying to escape from her eyes again and she sighed mentally to herself at this. How, after so many hours of crying in Gabe's arms, could she STILL cry after all that? It annoyed her to think that she was this weak, and couldn't even keep her emotions in check. The point about the whole issue was that she was almost raped, she had got away; it didn't seem that made much of a difference to her though. Jazz was going to catch onto her fast. If her marks didn't give her away, then her non-stop crying would be the end of her when she saw her friend.

Gabe sneaked a sidelong glance at the small girl walking beside him. He had sat with Amy in his arms that whole morning. Shushing her and whispering to her endearments in her ear that comforted her until she felt that she could move.

Gabe went back into his mind when she had first moved away from him and sat up.

**~x~**

**Back in Gabe's Apartment**

**~x~**

Amy sat up suddenly in his arms, and a little ways off between his legs. Gabe stared at her, his golden eyes still clouded with sorrow and anger. Amy wiped her eyes on the back of her hand and looked at him then. Gabe's heart almost broke at the sight of her. Her hair was a tangled mess, her eyes bloodshot and puffy from all her crying, her cheek had swelled even after they had placed ice on it, and her marks and bruises on her body made her look as if she was a broken doll.

Gabe sighed to himself. 'How could someone so pure and innocent be treated this way by other people?' He thought to himself.

Amy offered him a weak, watery smile. "Hey Gabe I feel like heading back to my dorm room now."

Gabe's eyebrows shot up at this. "You sure kiddo?"

Amy snorted at his endearment and winced slightly as her cheek was stretched uncomfortably. "Yeah I'm sure. I need to get around my own home for a while, and maybe I'll start to feel better."

Gabe gazed at her sadly. "Hey squirt, you can stay here as long as you want to you know? You're perfectly safe with me."

Amy laughed at him and whimpered in pain again. "It's okay Gabe really, I need to head back and besides maybe I'll come visit you, now that I know where you live," she hinted at him winking.

Gabe cracked a smile. "Sounds good kid." Standing up he walked into the kitchen, popped a piece of chocolate in his mouth, and turned back to her.

Amy frowned at this and wondered why he had such a sweet tooth…'Ah well, something to ask him later I guess.'

"Well let's truck out girl and get you back to your dorm," he said to her, "though I don't know why you would want to leave my pad, I mean it's a constant party."

Amy rolled her eyes at him. "That would be why Gabe."

Gabe pouted at her and took his leather jacket from where it was draped over the chair. Shrugging it on him he walked towards the door and opened it. Turning back to her, he looked at her with one of his eyebrows raised.

"Well are we going to leave then so I can get back to my chocolates?"

Amy blushed slightly and looked down at herself. "Umm Gabe I don't have a coat…"

Gabe stared at her for a second. Closing the door he walked to the other door that she had come out from and walked in. "Damn dicks," she could have sworn she heard him say before he disappeared into the other room.

**~x~**

**Back to the Present****(Still mid-January)**

**~x~**

Amy looked down at the coat that Gabe had given her. It was long and black and she had to admit it didn't seem like something Gabe would wear. Yet that wasn't the thing that made her puzzled the most. The coat fitted her perfectly.

It was black with a fake fur collar trim on the hood, hugging close to her body as if it was a second skin or a glove. The sleeves ended right at her wrists not too far and not to short. It cinched slightly at the waist, which she found odd considering Gabe didn't appear to live with any females; and why would he have any use for a coat that cinched at the waist as this one did? It was the perfect length and just covered past her hips.

Amy frowned slightly at this and turning to Gabe she asked him, "Gabe how is it exactly that you have a coat in your closet that just so happens to fit me so perfectly?"

Gabe looked at her, startled for a second, and then schooled his features into a nonchalant manner. "Well I have a sister, and I thought you two looked about the same size so I just thought what the hell? It's worth a try and it just so happens to fit you!"

"Gabe, I never knew that you had a sibling, much less a sister," Amy said lightly to him, smiling in his direction.

Gabe scratched the back of his head. "Yeah I have a few siblings."

"Really? So are they all younger than you or…?"

"Yeah most of them are, but I have a few that are older than me."

Amy nodded at that, and just as she was going to ask more they came upon her dorm building. Looking up at it, she took a deep breath and clutched at the jacket that surrounded her.

Gabe looked at her sadly. "Are you sure Aim?" he asked her quietly.

Amy nodded; this had to be done sooner or later, might as well make it sooner. Slowly starting to walk up to the building she heard the crunch of feet following behind her. Turning, she saw Gabe walking close on her heels. Shaking her head at him, she raised one of her hands to stop him. Gabe stopped in front of her, giving her a puzzled frown.

"No Gabe, I have to do this on my own," Amy said gently but firmly.

Gabe stared at her for a short while then slowly stepped back down a step. Sticking his hands back into his leather jacket pockets he said, "Okay sweets, but if you need my help you know where to find me."

Amy gave him a gentle smile and nodded her head in acknowledgment; turning around she headed back to her dorm building alone. Walking through the door, she turned around to see Gabe one last time. He had watched her walk into the building, and once she had gone through the door, he had turned and slowly started to walk away. She watched him for a while; his feet leaving imprints in the snow.

Calling out softly, "Thank you," she could have sworn that she saw him stiffen his shoulders as if he had heard her. Seconds later, she wrote it off as a coincidence as nothing else happened after.

Turning, she began her trek up the stairs. Wincing as she climbed them seeing as her body was still very stiff; she knew that Jazz would have hundreds of questions for her as soon as she would step through their door, and she didn't know how she would answer all of them. Right now, her head was spinning and her body was throbbing. She just wanted to take a warm bath and soak for an hour then; go straight to bed and relax.

Finally, making it to her door, and taking a deep breath, she took her key off from around her neck and stuck it in the lock; it was a miracle she hadn't lost it in the scuffle. Turning it slowly she pushed the door open and looked hesitantly around the door. No one appeared to be in the room and the dorm itself was deathly quiet. Sighing in relief Amy quietly stepped through and closed the door gently behind her. Reattaching the key hanging from her necklace around her neck, she walked over to the couch with the window behind it and looked out on the grounds.

Gabe was nowhere in sight anymore. If she hadn't had Gabe there then what would have happened to her? Would she have frozen on that sidewalk before anyone had found her? And what if she hadn't been able to get away from Professor Cox? She could have been a rape victim right now.

Amy looked down at her body. One of her last most precious gifts was her virginity. She remembered what felt like a long time ago talking to her mother about all the changes her body would go through very shortly. One of the things they had talked about was being a virgin.

Amy smiled to herself at the memory. Her mom and her were very close and felt comfortable talking to each other about anything, even if it was the most embarrassing of stories that you could possibly imagine. One thing she remembered her mother telling her was that her virginity was a precious gift, and to only give it away to the person that she loved the most in this world. She had asked her how she would know when she would be ready for something like that; her mom had responded to her with a cryptic, "You'll know honey, you'll just know."

Amy lightly lifted a hand to her cheek and a small gasp of pain emitted from her lips as she lightly pressed on it. A flood of memories came back and she suddenly felt dirty as if she was no longer a priceless gift anymore, but something ruined, and tainted beyond recognition. Who would truly want her after something that disgusting had almost happened to her?

A lone tear leaked out of the corner of her eye and fell down her cheek to rest on the point of her chin. She made no move to wipe the moisture from her face, instead staring at the white snow and the sun getting lower and lower in the sky.

So immersed in her thoughts that she was, she never heard a door opening behind her and the soft padding of feet that stopped within the small living room.

"Aim?" asked a quiet voice that rang throughout the room.

Amy jumped slightly at the unexpected burst of sound coming from behind her. Relaxing immediately, upon realizing that it was just Jazz's voice, she still didn't turn around to face her friend, afraid at the reaction she would have at her appearance.

"Amy where have you been all night? I waited up for you and you never showed! I was so worried, but it wasn't open anywhere for me to get a hold of anyone and I thought maybe you were with Lance or something because I couldn't get a hold of him either!" Jazz exclaimed, "You can't just up and disappear like that on me and give me a heart attack, so please tell me if you're rooming somewhere else for the night next time."

Amy felt so guilty at her friend's words. She knew Jazz was upset and angry and quite frankly, she would be the same way were she in her friend's shoes right now. Yet she still couldn't turn around and face her best friend. She didn't want to see the ugly look of disappointment directed at her when Jazz put two and two together and started to shun her. Your mind did funny things to you after you went through a traumatic experience and lived through it.

Jazz noticed Amy not saying anything and not turning around to look at her. Puzzled by her behavior, Jazz stepped forward.

"Hey Aim, you know I'm not mad at you right?" Jazz said quietly hoping to console her friend, from whatever was troubling her. "I was just worried about you that's all. Do you want to tell me where you were all night?"

"I was at Gabe's."

Jazz frowned in confusion. "At Gabe's? All night?"

Amy could hear the confusion and suspicion in Jazz's voice. She inwardly flinched at the suspicion clouding Jazz's voice when it came to her where bout's. She didn't want her friend thinking the worse of her, or Gabe for that matter, especially when he had helped her, and at little cost or gain to him it seemed.

Turning on her heel hastily, her eyes widened as Jazz took a good look at her face; forgetting to late about why she had been hesitant of facing her small friend since she had arrived.

Realizing her error quickly, she raised a hand to cover her badly bruised and swollen cheek, averting her gaze from Jazz's face. Before she could turn around though, Jazz reached out a hand that even though she wasn't touching her, Amy still flinched lightly but otherwise held her ground.

Noticing the almost imperceptible flinch, she frowned slightly at the subconscious movement. Looking at her friend, she could see the bruise on her neck, the imprint of the hand, the puffiness, and redness surrounding her best friend's eyes, and she was more than positive that underneath that black coat there were more marks of abuse.

"Amy, what happened?" Jazz asked quietly a lump starting to take shape in her throat.

Amy looked at her friend her eyes starting to grow tearful again. How could she tell her best friend that she was nearly raped? By one of the professors no less? Tears clouding her vision, she pursed her lips refusing to speak about her ordeal.

Jazz's heart broke at her friend's downtrodden expression. "Amy, talk to me please," she pleaded with her friend, "you're hurting right now, and I can see that clearly so please let me in again and help you."

At these words Amy broke down completely and collapsed on the floor, crying and shaking from the force of her misery. Jazz quickly knelt down beside her and put her hands around her. She could feel Amy freeze at the contact but then slowly relaxed into her and rested against her body.

Jazz quietly hushed her friend and smoothed her hair. Rubbing the back of her jacket, she sang an old song that she had learned when she was smaller. It always helped to soothe her when she was upset, or stressed, and it seemed that Amy responded to it as well. Slowly her friend's sobs died down, yet she still clutched to her as if she were a life preserver.

"Amy, I have to ask, Gabe didn't do this to you did he?"

Amy froze again at this and she pulled back and stared at Jazz with a frown marring her features. Hiccupping slightly from her sobs earlier she said, "Of course not Jazz, why would you even think such a thing?"

"Honestly, I never thought so to begin with, but you said that you were at his place all night, and I just thought that maybe I should ask to be sure and all…," she answered trailing off quietly as she saw Amy just stare at her.

It was quiet for a moment until Amy decided to speak. "Jazz, Gabe didn't do anything except comfort me and I can assure you of that," Amy replied, "he was the one that found me and helped me…and since I kinda passed out he took me to his place since it was closer."

Jazz frowned. "I know he would never willingly hurt you Aims, I mean the guy adores you, like for real!"

Amy stared at her friend confused. Jazz gazed at her, as if in disbelief.

"Oh come on you mean you've never noticed?" she asked huffing out a breath.

Amy frowned this time. "Jazz, what are you talking about?"

Jazz just stared at her with her mouth hanging open. Then snapping it closed she shook her head and a small smile quirked up the corners of her mouth, even under the circumstances.

"Never mind Aims that can wait for another time," Jazz assured her, "but this can't. What happened to you?"

Amy closed her eyes again and took a deep breath. She knew that she needed to talk about all of this before her head exploded, but right now it just didn't feel right to her. She wanted to talk but only when she was fully ready for it.

"Jazz, don't get me wrong but I don't want to talk right now," Amy told her friend gently.

Jazz opened her mouth to object but before she could, Amy raised up a hand and stopped her. Jazz closed her mouth at this.

"It's not that I don't want to talk to you or anything, but I really can't right now, I'm just not ready for that yet," Amy pleaded with her friend to understand, "I never even told Gabe what happened so please respect my wishes on this and just let me have my space on this issue for a while."

Jazz feuded with herself in her mind; then slowly nodded to her friend. She wanted to be a kind and supportive friend, not someone who tried to force them to talk about everything when they weren't ready; as much as it killed her to remain silent.

"Okay, Aim, but just so you know, when you want to talk I'm always here to just listen."

"Thanks Jazz, you don't know how much that means to me."

Jazz nodded to her and they shared watery, tear filled gaze, embracing in a hug. Amy gasped slightly at the pain her body was in and Jazz loosened her hold considerably. She pulled back slightly to look at her friend in concern, but Amy brushed it off with a smile and a shake of her head.

"It's fine Jazz," she reassured her, "now if you don't mind I'm just going to go for a quick bath and relax."

Jazz nodded to her and they slowly got up and separated. She watched Amy slowly walk into her room, come out a few minutes later, going into the bathroom closing the door with a soft click behind her. Shortly after, she heard the sound of running water and knew that Amy wouldn't be able to hear her anymore. She sighed to herself and lightly sat on the couch staring out the window at the slowly darkening sky. It was then that Jazz realized that Amy wasn't wearing the same coat that she had left with and she frowned to herself in worry. It seemed that this whole thing was even worse than she had originally thought and she could almost feel it was only going to get even more troubling from here on out.

**~x~**

**Bathroom**

**~x~**

Amy slowly stripped off her coat that Gabe had given her and hung it up on the hook inside hanging on the door. Looking at herself in the mirror she could see some of the marks and bruises that littered her body, and couldn't help the shudder of revulsion as they stood out startlingly against her pale skin. Bile rose in the back of her throat and she quickly looked away from herself. If this was her reaction, with her clothes on, how would she react with them off and looking at herself?

She had not taken off her jacket when she had gotten in because she hadn't wanted Jazz to see the marks all over her and press for more answers. She was ashamed of them and she knew that Jazz was worried, but part of her couldn't shake the thought that her friend was probably disgusted with her as well.

'I'm disgusted with myself so why shouldn't Gabe or Jazz be either?' Amy thought sadly.

In the back of her mind, she knew that this was how all rape victims felt. Alone, betrayed, hurt, ashamed, and above all dirty. Amy had no doubt, that she could add to that list, but her mind and body were both just to exhausted, and while she had been fortunate, it didn't change how she felt about the issue.

Deciding that she wasn't going to look at herself in the mirror naked, for quite a while, until she was sure that she could deal with seeing the marks on her; she slowly turned around, and started to undress away from the mirror, avoiding her reflection at all costs.

Finally, fully undressed, she stared at the tub filled with hot, steamy water and her stomach clenched. She wanted nothing more than to just submerge herself in that hot water and wash the grime away from that awful encounter, but then her mind reminded her that she would be sitting in that same filth and she couldn't stand the thought. So reaching over she unplugged the tub and watched the water drain out. Then turning the shower head on, adjusting the temperature until it was boiling hot, she waited while the steam shrouded the mirror in a thick layer of moisture then got in.

Amy gasped at the shock of the hot water hitting her sore and abused body in all of its most sensitive areas.

The scalding water washed her whole body purging her of any dirty feelings that she previously had but it didn't seem quite good enough. Grabbing the soap sitting on the ledge she moistened it up and started to lather herself with the bar everywhere. Thick bubbles started to coat her body and when the water washed away the suds she would just lather herself up again. To her she was getting rid of the stain his hands had left on her and ridding herself of him, but it seemed no matter how hard she scrubbed, how hot the water was, or how much soap she used, she couldn't shake the feeling that she was still dirty and tainted.

Finally, after rubbing her skin raw and pink from the hot water, and when the water itself started to cool did she decide to leave.

Stepping out of the shower, she grabbed a towel and slowly dried herself off; taking special care to her body where it was badly bruised and hurt the most. Getting her long PJ's on and buttoning them all the way to the top, turning the collar up to cover her neck, she brushed her hair out and finally opened the door.

Walking out she saw Jazz perched on the couch still staring out at the grounds. When the door opened however Jazz turned her eyes to look at her. A sad expression graced her features and she could have sworn she saw a tiny sparkle of sadness cloud her friend's gaze.

Amy just shrugged at her and quickly walked into her room and closed the door softly behind her.

Jazz sitting on the couch could have sworn that even in the dim light Amy's skin looked pink and raw. Her friend frowned in worry.

**~x~**

**The Dream**

**~x~**

Amy tossed and turned that night. Her dreams were plagued with nightmares. Everywhere she turned there was Professor Cox leering at her and pinning her down. He would smack her backhanding her so harshly that she thought her jaw had broken from the force of the impact.

Whimpering in pain she begged him to stop hurting her and let her go.

"Please stop! Please! I'm begging you to not do this! Just let me go!" she cried out to him desperately.

Professor Cox just laughed at her sad attempts to plead with him as she struggled to get away.

"I think not," he responded to her pleas and laughed at her, he raised another hand to strike a blow, while his other hand grabbed at the waistband of her pants.

Amy let out a loud scream and a burst of bright, hot, white light shot throughout her dream. Professor Cox sitting astride her burst into flames and shot up into the sky as the room shuddered and rang around her once more.

Amy sat up slightly and shielded her eyes against the bright light, her ears ringing with the high pitch of sound. Staring directly into it she could make out the shape of a person and they appeared to be male. Trembling in fear she tried to back up but then she heard a gentle voice drift to her as if on a gentle breeze.

"Don't worry Amy, I promised you that you're safe with me, and that I will always protect you. I almost failed once, that won't happen again," the voice said to her.

Amy felt a tear slip down her face as she felt more at peace.

Finally, she drifted off into a peaceful sleep and slept deeply without further nightmares that night; the experience after that calming presence that night never haunted her again from there on out.

**~x~**

**Mid February**

**(Present day)**

**~x~**

Amy sat on the couch in the dorm room reading from one of her textbooks placed on her lap. She had woken up before dawn and had taken a few minutes to watch the sun slowly come up over the distant horizon. Smiling to herself she went back to studying from her book, letting the sun warm her body.

Classes had started again a few short weeks ago and so far, everything was good. Her bruises were healing rapidly and that included her cheek. Sure, she still used copious amounts of makeup to hide the black and blue splotches on her, but it was looking better with each passing day.

Jazz had accepted her wishes and hadn't talked to her about that night again. Instead, she opted to wait for Amy to come to her when she was ready; and Amy was glad her friend had allowed her this small mercy. She still hadn't talked to any of them yet about what had happened that night, but she was getting to the point, and quickly, when she knew that she would say something.

Flipping another page in her book, she started reading again, when the dorm room door banged open and hit the wall behind it. Amy jumped in shock as she stared at her best friend standing there, her hair all-haphazard and sticking up every which way like a birds nest, clutching her side as if she had just ran a marathon.

Amy raised an eyebrow at her. "Jazz what's wrong with you?" she asked curiously, as she started reading again.

Jazz walked into the room and closed the door. Standing in front of Amy and their coffee table, she looked directly at her.

"Professor Cox died last night," Jazz said in an emotionless voice.

Amy froze at this and looked up at her in shock and horror.


	20. Hunters On The Way

Amy looked at her friend in shock, horror, and suspicion. How could he have died so soon? It seemed like a freak accident to her but, she knew somehow that this was not a freak accident; someone had murdered him. Turning she looked out the window at the lightening grounds. Jazz watched her reaction closely from behind; studying Amy as if she were an animal in the zoo. Amy sat for a long few minutes silently thinking to herself. Finally, she came to a conclusion, standing up she grabbed her coat, put it on and headed to the door.

Jazz frowned at this sudden and unexplainable motion and moved to stand in front of her, blocking her exit. Pleadingly she held up her hands, not wanting to touch her friend.

"Wait Amy, where are you going?" she asked her gently.

"I'm going to where he was murdered Jazz," Amy replied with a tight throat.

Jazz stared at her in confusion. "But you don't even know where that was and who says he was murdered?"

Amy looked at her friend and sighed. "That's why you're going to tell me, and if you don't I'll just leave and walk around until I find it."

Jazz swallowed and shook her head. Amy never had told her yet what had happened to her that night and who had beat her but she had a funny feeling, especially now, that the culprit was the late Professor.

Finally, Jazz sighed herself. "It's in front of the main building," she murmured quietly.

Amy nodded to her. "Thanks," she mumbled out quietly, and then side stepped around Jazz continuing walking towards the door as if nothing had stopped her.

Jazz's head quickly snapped up. "Wait!" she cried running up to her friend. Amy stopped and turned around curiously. "I'm coming with you of course! Did you honestly think you could get rid of me so easily?" she harrumphed at her friend in displeasure.

Amy stared at her friend then murmured quietly, "Thanks Jazz, but I have to do this on my own."

Jazz this time glared at Amy like two hard chips of emerald mixed with crimson. 'Wait there's crimson in her eyes?' Amy thought to herself in confusion. Jazz doesn't have crimson in her eyes though, their just green; but when she shook her head again the crimson was gone and they had returned to the normal deep emerald green.

'Wait, normal green Amy your just seeing things,' she thought to herself sighing inwardly.

Jazz stared at her in confusion, shrugged, and continued, "What I mean is, you never have to do anything alone you'll always have friends that want to support you Aim! So let me help you!" Jazz pleaded with her.

Amy stared at her friend for a moment then smiled at her gently. "Okay Jazz, lets go then."

Jazz brightened up and bounced out the door just behind Amy.

As they walked towards the main building through the mildly slushy grounds, Amy could not help but start thinking again. Her mind crossed back over to Professor Cox and about his sudden death. Just weeks ago she had been found by Gabe, and he had been mad enough to drop a house on the guy, but she had stopped him and of course made him promise not to do anything. Then weeks later, he just dies. That was too much of a coincidence to ignore. She knew Gabe knew who the person was that had hurt her, now all she needed to do was come clean with everything but she still wasn't quite ready. Although the issue hadn't bothered her in some time, she still felt like she had an obligation to tell Jazz about it. Feeling like she had to confirm to herself that the professor was dead, she could then confront Gabe about his broken promise; she didn't know how she knew, she just knew that he was the one who had done it.

Then there was Jazz behind her. She swore that she had seen her friend's eyes go slightly crimson back in their dorm room. What did that possibly mean? She knew from classes that demons could have red eyes, well if you believed in stuff like that, and Amy wasn't exactly a firm believer but her mind was open. Yet she knew that Jazz wasn't one of them. She had touched crosses before blessed by the church that Amy insisted on traveling with at times in hopes of protection. While she wasn't necessarily religious she enjoyed the idea of some sort of protection, and that her parents were somewhere happy and at peace. She also noticed that Jazz could say God's name and not flinch. Of course, she never tested holy water out, but if she passed those two tests then she must not be one right? Amy frowned to herself, her head starting to hurt with all the constant thinking. Or maybe, she concluded to herself, it was actually nothing and I'm just going through too much stress and seeing things now. While she didn't really believe in the supernatural, things were strange around here, and something was going on.

Regardless of whatever it was, she knew that she had to take things one-step at a time, and finding this whole thing out about Professor Cox was going to be her first step. Jazz continued to bounce along behind her without a care in the world, singing under her breath "I just can't wait to be king" from the "Lion King." Amy shook her head and laughed to herself at her friend's weird habits and actions.

Reaching the main building, Amy abruptly stopped. Jazz who had been skipping along behind her, almost collided with her friend quickly stopping just in time. Amy's eyes had grown wide at the scene playing out before her.

Officers and an ambulance were around the area. A coroner van was also parked there, no doubt to pick up a dead body. Red and blue lights still flashed from the emergency vehicles in the dawning light. A stretcher was being wheeled to the coroner's van and placed inside it, a white sheet draped over the body to cover its identity, but Amy already knew who it was deep in her gut. Other students milled about curiously and cautiously. No doubt if they didn't know who it was now they would soon learn.

Amy felt her chest tighten at the familiar scenes. This is exactly what had happened to her parents that one night, killed from a jealous murderer; in this case things were slightly different though. Amy could feel tears burning behind her eyes at the mental images but she choked them back and clenched her hands into two tight fists, Jazz standing beside her just watched quietly. Finally, the cops started moving around the small gathering of people and shooing them away.

An officer came up to them. "Hey girls it's time to get going, nothing to see here really."

Jazz nodded and turned to walk away. Going a few steps, she realized that her friend wasn't following her and turned to look behind her. Amy still stood motionless looking at the officer and the scene as slowly people dispersed.

"What happened to him?" asked Amy.

The officer shook his head. "I'm really not at liberty to talk about it…"

"Please just tell me, I'd rather know the truth instead of campus lies that other kids will twist around," Amy pleaded with him quietly.

The man nodded once thinking about this. "Yeah I guess I would like to know how my teachers really died to, instead of knowing lies about them."

Amy nodded her head not bothering to say more.

"Well we think it was a suicide, jumped out of his office, and fell to his death on the stairs," the officer explained.

Amy nodded at that. "Were there any witnesses?"

The officer smiled a tight-lipped smile at her. "Quite the detective, aren't you?" When Amy didn't respond to that he sighed and continued, "No, no witnesses but the man that found him was named…" flipping through his little pad of paper he found the name, "Ahh yes Gabe, said he found him just before sunrise since he is a janitor and gets up early to clean anyway."

Amy smiled a tight-lipped smile at him. "Thank you for that, officer."

He nodded and started to walk away. Amy turned abruptly on her heel and started to walk in the opposite direction of their dorm across campus. Jazz stared at her friend with her mouth hanging open and quickly ran up to her.

"Amy, where are you going now? You already heard that it was a freak accident nothing more, so now what's going on?"

"It wasn't a freak accident Jazz," Amy attempted to explain to her confused friend.

All along Amy knew that it was murder and what the officer had told her proved it. She knew Gabe had something to do with all of this. She didn't know what, and she would admit that, but she knew that she was going to find out one way or the other.

"But where are we going?" asked Jazz desperately, "and what do you mean it wasn't an accident? Of course it was, the police said so," Jazz pouted.

Amy shook her head. "No, something's weird, and my gut is telling me that something else happened last night and I need to find out the truth."

Jazz sighed and fell in step beside her friend. "Okay fine, say something really did happen to him, and that it wasn't an accident. Then where are we heading now?"

Amy steeled herself before she said this. "To Gabe's apartment."

Jazz stopped suddenly and squeaked out, "What?"

Amy turned to Jazz a determined gleam shining in her eyes. "He promised me Jazz. I know he did something, my heart tells me he did something," Amy tried to explain to her friend, placing a hand over her heart.

Jazz just stared at her in bewilderment. "But why would he kill him?"

Amy looked down at the ground. "He has his reasons…, but he promised me he wouldn't so I need to talk to him right now!"

With that, Amy spun on her heel and began walking again at a brisk pace to his apartment; Jazz, jogging beside her to keep up with her longer stride. They both walked silently to Gabe's place. Not one of them spoke a word on their walk over. Amy couldn't help but wonder every now and then if Jazz actually believed her or if she thought her friend was finally going crazy, she shook it off though and continued on.

Finally, after ten minutes of walking they made it to Gabe's apartment near the spare rooms for teachers and students. It was never normally used so Amy assumed that Gabe had free run of the place.

Walking in she led Jazz to his door and stopped outside it, taking a deep breath. Jazz stared at her friend with a worried expression next to her.

Quietly Jazz said to her, "You know we can just walk away from all of this."

Amy shook her head at that and determinedly raised her hand, knocking on the wooden door. The knock echoed loudly in the empty hallway and gave her chills. They waited for a few tense seconds. Listening to the other side of the room, they couldn't hear any activities taking place on the inside. Amy frowned to herself at this. Then Jazz piped up from beside her.

"Maybe he's not in," Jazz tried to supply helpfully, "I mean, he was the one to find the body so maybe he's still working with the cops."

Amy shook her head, not believing it for a second. Raising her hand again, she started to pound on the door continuously. "Gabe, I know you're in there!" Amy shouted at the door. Jazz jumped at her friend's loud words. "Open this door Gabe, we have to talk!"

"Alright, Alright! I'm coming! Hold your bloody horses!" shouted a voice from the other side of the door before Amy could keep pounding.

She lowered her hand and Jazz's eyebrows rose up on her forehead. They could hear the rattling of a lock and the doorknob turning. Suddenly, the door was flung open wide and standing on the other side was Gabe. His hair was wet as if he had just gotten out of the shower. He must have, Amy thought to herself, considering his shirt was slightly damp to.

Gabe's eyebrows rose like Jazz's had just done as he stared at the two of them.

"Well what do I owe the pleasure of this visit exactly?" he asked winking at the both of them.

"You know exactly what you did Gabe! You-"Amy started to fume but quickly Gabe reached out a hand and covered her mouth. Amy gave a muffled sound of protest at him and glared angrily around his hand. Gabe smiled slowly at her in apology and rolled his eyes.

"Okay, something tells me that the three of us should get comfy inside," Gabe said quickly, "besides if you're going to accuse me of something that I can assure you I probably didn't do then I'm gonna need to sit down."

They all walked into Gabe's apartment. Jazz's eyebrows rose again as she took in the décor of the room. Amy tried not to laugh at her friend's reaction to Gabe's obvious, out of this decade furnishings; or maybe out of this world was more appropriate. Gabe closed the door behind them.

Turning to the girls, he spread his arms out. "Well could I offer you girls any treats while you're here?"

Jazz opened her mouth to give an answer but Amy quickly overrode her, "No Gabe, I need to ask you a question, and I need the truth behind it."

Jazz glared at her friend for interrupting her and Gabe looked at her skeptically with his eyebrows high up on his forehead again. His forehead flawed by wrinkles he whistled lowly while glancing up to the ceiling.

"Alright kid shoot," Gabe said unemotional.

Amy frowned at this, "Did you kill Professor Cox?"

It was silent in the room as Amy finished asking her question. It stretched around the three of them and acted like the elephant in the room, no one wanted to answer the question. Gabe looked at Amy with a completely neutral face, and Jazz's eyes bugged in her head.

Finally, laughing nervously, Jazz brought a hand up. "What she really means Gabe, is do you know anything else about what happened?"

"No," Amy said adamantly before Gabe could even bother answering, "I meant what I said Jazz, don't twist this, did you or did you not kill him Gabe?"

Jazz looked at her friend worriedly then turned to look at Gabe. Gabe just stared at Amy a hard glint in his eyes. Finally, he sighed and said, "Amy, Amy, Amy, I'm ashamed that you would even think me capable of something like that."

Amy frowned at him and ignored the internal panic starting to claw to the surface. "Gabe you promised me that you wouldn't hurt him, so answer me straight forward. Yes or no?"

Gabe frowned this time at her. "No, okay? I did not touch him, satisfied now?"

Amy could hear by the tone of his voice that he wasn't too happy about this kind of questioning being directed at him. Her head spun with thoughts then.

'Did I make a mistake?'

'What if he actually didn't do anything and I made an enemy out of one of the only people here that has always tried to help me?'

'Oh my god will he even forgive me now?'

Thoughts like this spun around in her mind. Jazz laughed nervously from the other side of her and said, "Ha-ha see Amy, he didn't kill anyone! He even said so. So I guess he's home free right?"

Amy looked at Gabe then looked down at the floor between her feet. "I…I….I'm sorry Gabe really…. I should have thought of that more….please forgive me," she stuttered out quietly not being able to look at her friend.

She heard Gabe sigh across from her. Looking up she saw him rub his right hand across his forehead and give a small smile to her. Briefly, Amy thought she saw something flash behind his eyes. Was that guilt? But then it was quickly gone and replaced by that arrogant smirk that he always seemed to wear on his face.

"All is forgiven sweet cheeks," Gabe said beaming at her, then at Jazz.

Jazz huffed out a breath in relief and turned to smile at them all. "Well since that's all cleared up and no one is a murderer in this room, let's celebrate!"

Amy rolled her eyes at her friend and Gabe had one of his full smiles lighting up his face. He laughed with Jazz and then said the thing that really took Amy off guard.

"Hey Jazz, you ever watch Dr. Phil?"

Amy stood there shocked, looking at her friend she could see Jazz's face split into a wide grin her eyes sparking like twin coals.

"Are you kidding me! Of course, I have! He's amazing! Does this mean you're a fan to? Can we watch him now? He plays early sometimes!" Jazz said.

Amy stared at her friend and her one hundred questions streaming from her mouth. It was just like the day she first met Jazz all bouncy and full of energy. Finally, Amy couldn't help herself, the strange situation of all of this adding up. She threw her head back and laughed aloud. It was the first genuine laugh that she had done for the last few weeks, and boy did it feel good.

She couldn't see as she laughed so hard she almost fell to her knees, but Jazz was delighted and Gabe watched her with a sad expression mixed with a strong sense of duty swirling in his eyes.

**~x~**

**One Day Later**

**~x~**

Amy and Jazz sat in the cafeteria eating lunch the next day. Jazz was poking around her spaghetti and meatballs with her fork and Amy was immersed in the school papers headline article explaining Professor Cox's death.

Jazz rolled her eyes as she stared at her friend across from her so immersed in the article that she failed to notice the spaghetti noodles slowly unwinding from her fork.

Jazz puffed out a sigh and said to her, "You know Amy; I don't know why you're reading that. You and I both know what happened."

Amy shook her head at Jazz. "But Jazz, maybe we don't…"

Jazz growled angrily and hissed across the table to her, "Amy you already asked Gabe and he said-"

Amy quickly swatted at Jazz with the paper to stop her. Her friend reeled back in shock while shouting out a quiet, "Hey!" and stared at Amy reproachfully. Amy shook her head quickly at her friend.

"It's not about Gabe anymore Jazz, but what if it's someone else?" Amy said, "what if it gets someone's attention that could be dangerous?"

Jazz rolled her eyes at this. "Like who Amy? The bogeyman's?" she scoffed to her friend. When she still got a worried look out of Amy she sighed. "Okay look; Lance comes back in a week and let's just talk to him when he gets back; see what he thinks alright? I'm sure everything is going to be okay."

Amy smiled thinly at her friend and closed the paper. "Yeah you're right Jazz, besides we need to finish our homework for tomorrow."

Jazz groaned at this and slammed her head accidentally into her spaghetti plate in front of her, causing a huge squish to sound out from below her forehead. Amy choked on her water and sprayed it across at her friend's face when she lifted her head. Jazz closed her eyes at this and Amy stared at her wide-eyed not wanting to even twitch a muscle.

Jazz just uttered one word, "Fantastic."

**~x~**

**In The Next State Over**

**~x~**

Sam Winchester was leaning against the Impala as his brother Dean walked into the diner to get some pie that he had been craving for the last 30 miles. Studying the sheets of paper that he had printed off he frowned in consternation at what he was reading.

"Professor dies suddenly after committing suicide by jumping out of his third story office window," Sam muttered quietly to himself.

Looking up he stared into the distance as he thought this through. It came from the same campus that he had been keeping a close eye on for the past few months now. Over 4 months ago this girl went nuts unexplainably at this guy's party and started saying she kept seeing this one girl everywhere she turned. This other guy freaked out like 2 months after that and apparently trashed a hallway, but he claimed that it was a bunch of thugs that beat him to a pulp and now a Professor commits suicide; no reason for him to either, top of his career, wife and kids. It just wasn't adding up.

Dean came out of the diner holding a huge plate covered in foil of what Sam could only assume was pie. He held it gently as if he were holding the Holy Grail and beamed at him as he came closer. Sam just scoffed and rolled his eyes at his brother's antics.

"Okay Sammy, I'm good to go for another couple of miles," Dean said enthusiastically as he hopped into the car.

Sam leaned down and said through the open window, "It's Sam."

Dean this time scoffed at him and said, "You know what your problem is, Sam? He said mockingly, "You don't lighten up. Now if you ate more pie like I do you would always be happy."

"Yes because pie is the answer to everything bad in this world," Sam remarked.

Dean at this time had stuffed a huge bite into his mouth and sighed at the glorious taste that touched his taste buds. He glared at Sam and through his full mouth said, "It isfjf!"

Sam just rolled his eyes at his brother and completely ignored his bad table manners. "Yeah I've seen what too much pie does to people Dean, and I'm good."

Dean just shrugged his shoulders and stuffed another piece into his mouth without swallowing the first.

"Anyways I think I found another case for us," Sam continued explaining everything that he had researched up before this.

"Okay, it might be something, we could go check it out since we have nothing else to do right now," Dean said, "where is it exactly?"

"Uhh the next state over," answered Sam.

"Okay well hop in so we can get there," Dean said quickly forking another huge mouthful in his mouth.

Sam folded his long body into the Impala as Dean started the engine. The roar of the car coming to life gave Dean a large goofy grin on his face that Sam just shook his head at. The car purred and Dean shifted her into drive, peeling out of the parking lot and out onto the highway, burning rubber behind them.


	21. Protectiveness and Suspicions

Anyways here's another update for you all and just a heads up, there will be no new updates for the entire month of March. I promise though that i will update again asap in early April! I'll explain everything!

I hope you all enjoy and just a small spoiler alert, the next chapter to this story things are going to start being found out soooo enjoy ;)

It was one week after Amy had confronted Gabe about Professor Cox and yet she still felt ill at ease about the whole thing. She couldn't help the nagging feeling that she had in the pit of her stomach that there was something that she kept missing. Yet every single time she tried to think about it, it faded away like fog.

Just then, before she could give her brain a bigger headache, Jazz burst into the room.

"Amy! Lance is back!" Jazz shouted out to her. Her eyes were glowing and she was beaming with a wide smile from ear to ear.

Amy couldn't help but smile back at her friend's happiness and excitement. She was excited to for Lance coming back, but every time she thought of him she couldn't help but think of that night. Amy shook her head mentally and reprimanded herself. Hadn't she decided that she might have heard wrong? They could have been talking about anything after all, and since she didn't know the whole story she could have accidentally rushed to conclusions.

She did need to talk about what had happened though with Professor Cox. Not the whole thing, but him dying definitely had to be talked about. For some reason, she had the sinking suspicion that Gabe had lied to her that day, and she wanted to give Lance the benefit of the doubt it assuaging her fears, telling her that she was being irrational and to not think any more on it.

Standing up Amy smiled at her friend. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go find him!"

Jazz bounced up and down in excitement. "Let's go then!"

They both ran out of the dorm room, bursting out of their building and running across the campus. It was true that Lance actually owned the biggest house up on the hill, or his parents did, but since they were always on business trips, or so he had told them, he decided to room down in the dorms where people came and went all the time. Lance always claimed that the big house was too quiet for just one person to live in and Amy had to agree with him on that.

Bursting into the dorm building for the boys, they quickly ran up the stairs. Guys walking down plastered themselves against the opposite sides of the walls in an effort to make space. Some called out catcalls and jeers as the two of them whizzed by, the two of them just ignored the calls and continued onwards.

Amy was never gladder for times like these when she wasn't limping anymore from her injuries. They had all healed up relatively quickly which amazed her but she shook it off. Even the ugly slap mark that had marred her face was practically gone, only a faint greenish tinge was left to her skin, and even that had mostly faded. This she was glad for as now, so she could easily write off what had happened should Lance ask. She had never been more thankful for freedom of movement since she didn't have to feel her constant injuries any more during the day or night.

Finally, getting to Lance's dorm room, they pounded harshly on it.

"Lance! Open the door for us! It's your two favorite ladies!" Jazz shouted at the door.

Doors opened on the other side of the hallways as guys' heads poked out to look at them. Some just shook their heads and disappeared back inside, while others watched for a time then started talking to one another as they noticed some of their friends. Some even just kept watching them. Amy rolled her eyes as this; the male of the species just confused her.

Suddenly, the door opened wide and Lance's beaming smile lit them up like torch. He looked healthy and his skin had a pink shine to it. His wavy brown hair fell in a gentle curtain around his face resting just above his chin. Blue eyes sparkled at the two of them as he took them both in. His body powerfully muscled, with broad shoulders. Amy could never get over how handsome Lance really was. He was a real downright heartthrob and any girl would want him; rugged in features and strong in body, he could make any straight girl swoon with his devilish smile.

"Jazz, Amy it's good to see you girls again!" Lance exclaimed to the both of them as he wrapped them up in a giant hug, sweeping them off the floor and into his tight embrace.

Amy and Jazz wheezed at the tight pressure on their significantly smaller bodies. Finally, Jazz seemed to get some air back into her lungs and gasped out, "Okay Lance…really need to loosen the grip right now otherwise my eyes are going to pop out like ping pong balls."

Amy winced at the mental picture that that created in her mind, but still sighed in relief when Lance reluctantly placed the two of them back on the ground. He smiled sheepishly at the both of them and rubbed his thumb under his nose, wincing as he saw them both rub their ribs. Looking at the two of them from under his thick brown eyebrows, he smiled.

"Sorry girls, but you know how I get when I see my two favorite ladies," he said smoothly to them.

Amy blushed slightly at this, and Jazz just rolled her eyes at him. Knocking a light punch into his shoulder, which Lance frowned at, she asked him, "Lance, can we come in for a second? We need to talk to you right now."

Lance gave them both a curious glance then nodded slowly. Stepping back, he allowed them into the room. Walking over the threshold Amy took in what the boy's dormitories looked like. It pretty much was the same layout as hers and Jazz's just in this case it was the opposite way around with the hallway leading off to two rooms on their right instead of their left.

Lance closed the door gently behind them on the curious faces still peering outside and turned around to look at them confused.

"Okay girls, so what have I missed?" he asked them.

Amy fidgeted slightly. 'Well you missed a lot, I got straight marks in all my exams, almost raped by a professor, said professor dies shortly after that, and now I'm being completely paranoid for a really good reason about Gabe,' Amy thought to herself without voicing this out loud.

Instead, she kept her silence hoping that Jazz would take up this roll instead. She wasn't disappointed as Jazz started talking immediately after Lance had asked the question.

"Well have you heard the news on campus lately?" asked Jazz skipping right to the heart of the situation.

Lance frowned at the question. "Well I've heard rumors, but that's about all," he admitted to them.

"Like what kind of rumors?" Jazz persisted with him.

Lance rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Well, like rumors that one of the teachers committed suicide just a week ago."

Jazz and Amy both nodded slowly at this. Lance stared at the both of them; his eyes continuously darting from one to the other in disbelief. Slowly he started to chuckle aloud and walked over to one of the windows to look down at the grounds. Amy and Jazz looked at each other for a split second then turned to stare at Lance's back.

"I'm sorry, I must have missed the joke, Lance," said Jazz.

Lance turned to the both of them slowly. Amy could have sworn that she saw a guarded expression shining from deep within his eyes. When she blinked though to take a closer look the glimmer was gone and replaced by something that could have been sorrow?

Lance shook his head and sighed. "Honestly it's not Jazz, I just can't wrap my mind around something like this; its huge news."

Jazz nodded in understanding. "We know Lance; it's taken us awhile to fully wrap our own heads around what has happened."

Lance nodded. "Yeah, I'm sorry about that guys, I'm not laughing cause I find the situation funny, actually quite the opposite. Whenever I'm presented with a serious situation, like something like this for example, I laugh to deal with the horror of it."

Amy frowned to herself. Finally, she blurted out what she really wanted to say.

"Lance, could Gabe have anything to do with this?"

Jazz turned to stare at her with a disbelieved look taking over her features. Lance stared at her in shock and confusion and was that fear? Finally, shaking his head he laughed again at this.

"Amy why would you even ask something like that?" asked Lance in a dismissive tone. Yet Amy could have sworn that she heard a hard edge to his voice starting to leak through.

She shook her head and looked at the floor then quietly said, "Lance, just tell me the truth, please, and just trust me, could he have anything to do with this?"

Lance sighed. "No Amy he couldn't have. I've known Gabe for quite a while and I don't think he would ever do something like that."

"But Lace what if-!"

"Amy enough!" Lance raised his voice at her; staring with a mad glint in his eyes.

Amy flinched at the look. She felt as if she was just frozen to the floor at the icy tone that Lance had yelled at her with. Never before had he raised his voice at her, and it had taken her off guard. Why was he so sensitive about this? 'Well jeez Amy, your claiming one of his friends had something to do with a man's death wouldn't you be insulted to?' She thought to herself sadly. Shaking her head, she realized that maybe she pushed too fast and hard to soon. Or she made a huge mistake. People died by accident all the time.

'Maybe I just have someone, like an angel, watching out for me and making sure the people that hurt me get punished?' Amy thought to herself, 'no I don't want that, I don't want someone to get hurt because of me.'

Looking back up at Lance across from her Amy sadly nodded her head. "I'm sorry Lance really, I shouldn't have accused Gabe of this, and now I realize that I was so wrong. Please forgive me?"

Lance sighed at this and lightly pinched the bridge of his nose. Looking up at her after a few minutes of silence he nodded. "Okay Amy, I forgive you but just one thing, will you tell me why you actually thought that?"

Amy sighed again at this question. "Look Lance, if it's all the same to you I would prefer not to right now. I'll tell you one day and I promise you that just not today, I need more time and besides I've already made a fool of myself once I don't really want to repeat the experience again."

Lance nodded. "Amy I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you it's just he's a real close friend of mine and I guess, I'm just really over protective of him, so please don't be to mad but how would you feel if one of your other close friends accused your other good friend of murder?"

Amy nodded her head in understanding as she had just thought about this herself. Jazz sighed in relief, as the tension in the room seemed to evaporate.

"Okay so were all agreeing at what happened to Professor Cox was just a freak accident and nothing more? Amy you're not going to still keep up this ridiculous notion that Gabe is somehow responsible for this, are you?" asked Jazz quietly.

Amy nodded her head quickly. Then before the other two could say anything more, she blurted out, "I'm just going to go for a walk, okay guys?"

Jazz and Lance stared at her in worry. Lance then spoke, "Amy are you sure? You can stay if you want."

Amy shook her head. "No its okay Lance, I want to get some fresh air anyways, and besides it's really nice out; I wouldn't mind going out to enjoy the weather."

Lance nodded at this but just before he said bye he frowned at her. "Amy, what's that over your cheek?"

She blanched and froze as she was turning towards the door. Jazz even seemed to freeze at the unexpected question. Amy's mind was whirling from all the thoughts passing through her. She could lie and say it was nothing and just the trick of the light or she could make up some kind of lame ass excuse and hopefully lead Lance away from what really happened.

Swallowing past a sudden lump in her throat Amy squeezed out one sentence, "Oh it's nothing Lance, Jazz just accidentally opened a door in my face a week ago and the bruise is still fading," she replied faking a cheery smile and eye roll.

Jazz stared at her with her mouth dropped down to the floor at Amy's blatant lie. Amy quietly tried to signal with her eyes for Jazz to play along and also trying to communicate to her a silent apology. She was amazed at how hard Professor Cox had slapped her that evening. The bruise was a few weeks old and still had a slight greenish tinge. She had borrowed some concealer from Jazz and covered it the best she could but other than that, it was out of her hands. She needed Jazz to play along though. Seemingly, to get the unspoken message Jazz barely nodded her head.

"Oh yeah Lance, that was all my bad!" Jazz exclaimed from behind him rubbing the back of her head nervously with her right hand. Lance turned to look at her with an eyebrow arched at the little girlish pixie. "See I accidentally swung my door open so fast that I hit Amy right in the face with it; she's been wearing my concealer for like the last week to hide the bruise."

Lance was quiet for a moment then a wide grin split his face as he threw his head back and started laughing. Jazz and Amy shared a quick look at this, Amy conveying gratitude to her friend, while Jazz was somewhat confused as to why her friend wanted her to lie in the first place. After a few moments, Lance seemed to have calmed down and looked back at the two of them. Wiping a tear from his eye, he chuckled quietly.

"Well I have to say Amy that that doesn't surprise me that Jazz did something like that," Lance, said quickly, "she's always doing something along those lines anyways."

Amy smiled a shy smile at Lance, quietly agreeing.

"Well I'm just gonna head out for now guys," Amy said, turning on her heel and waving behind her back.

"Okay Aims, but we all gotta hang out again sometime soon and watch another movie!" Lance shouted at her retreating back.

"I'll see you in the dorm room, girl," Jazz said to her as she started to walk out the door.

Amy gave the both of them the thumbs up as she quietly closed the door behind her. Walking back down the dorm room hallway, doors still propped open from the inhabitants in the rooms, she started to reflect. Lance always struck her as someone that was protective over their friend's well-being and all, but something wasn't really adding up to her in her mind; that conversation that she had overheard him and Gabe talking about outside kept making her feel slightly nervous. If Gabe was somehow a convict, what had he done? Or was it something completely different?

Amy sighed to herself as this thought spun around in her head for what felt like had to be the thousandth time. She knew there was no way of getting a real answer unless she asked one of them, and to do that would be to admit that she had overheard them and look like a complete snoop whether she meant to overhear or not.

Then there was Jazz. That eye thing that she could have sworn she had witnessed her friend do not too long ago, gave her the shivers, but she just shrugged it off thinking that it could have been the lights. Frowning to herself, Amy knew that it was a feeble excuse and she had never seen them go crimson before, but really what other choice did she have? She liked to believe that there was something else out there; she just didn't know how far she would believe exactly without being a witness to it with her own eyes.

The next thing that she still had to wonder about was Gabe himself. He said that he never touched the professor. Could she believe him? He promised that he wouldn't and Amy really wanted to believe him on that but was it smart to let her guard down on something like this when her gut was telling her otherwise? I guess it really came down to whether she felt like she could trust Gabe and whether or not she thought that he would ever hurt her. Both answers were yes and no on those two questions. Yes, she thought she could trust him and no, she did not think that he would ever hurt her.

Stepping outside finally into the fresh air Amy breathed deeply and closed her eyes. She listened to the wind whistle through the still bare trees, how it carried that cold scent of winter. Opening her eyes, she looked up into crystal clear blue skies. Smiling Amy vowed to herself as she looked up at the great blue expanse above her.

'I mean it from this point forwards, new start about Gabe,' she thought to herself, 'if Gabe told me that he had nothing to do with it then fine he didn't. I'm just being paranoid now and its becoming annoying, not only to myself but to the others as well; besides, it's not like I knew what I would do if he was really doing something around the campus, but I shouldn't judge him on rumors, suspicions or situations that have arisen without any hard proof.'

Nodding to herself Amy decided to walk around campus. She was briskly walking and thinking over all her classes and what she still needed to finish that she wasn't paying any attention to where her feet were taking her. Suddenly, she collided with a hard and immovable wall in front of her.

"Oomph!" Amy let out a surprised gasp as she took a few steps back from having lost her balance with colliding into said wall.

"Oh I'm sorry!" said a deep masculine voice in front of her.

Amy shook her head to clear it and looked up…and up. Standing in front of her had to be one of the tallest men that she had ever met in her life. He stood probably 6 foot with short shaggy brown hair. Large, soulful brown eyes looked down at her in concern. He sure was handsome she had to give him that; even Lance would have a run for his money with this guy.

"Are you okay?" the man asked again, "look I'm really sorry that I was standing right in front of you, I didn't know you were coming up…"

Amy laughed nervously at this. "Oh no I'm sorry! I wasn't paying attention to where I was going, you know focused on other things like school for one."

The man laughed with her as she explained. Just as she was, about to introduce herself another man came running up to them. He was shorter than the one standing in front of her. He also had short brown hair but not as shaggy as the taller one. Green eyes graced his features with flecks of hazel in them. While he was shorter, he also had muscle like the taller one. Both had extremely good bodies and looked like they kept in shape; both blessed with good looks.

"Hey Sam, I found a girl to talk to," said the shorter man to the taller one.

Amy turned to look at the one in front of her. "Oh so your name is Sam then?" she asked innocently.

Dean did a double take, finally noticing the petite blonde standing in front of his brother. He smiled at her and stuck his hands into his jeans pockets.

"Hey there, and who might you be?" he asked her.

Amy cocked an eyebrow at this blatant display of flirting but didn't say anything on it. Unbeknownst to her Sam rolled his eyes at his brother flirting with this college girl and had to hold back a smirk, he had a funny feeling that Dean wasn't going to get too far with this one.

"Oh my names, Amy," Amy answered sweetly as she held out her hand politely.

Dean stared at the hand, shocked for a second, then lightly grabbed it, and shook hers.

"My names Dean, and obviously you've already met my brother, Sam," Dean replied to her.

Sam smiled at her and Amy smiled at the both of them.

"So, what exactly brings you two here?" she asked them curiously while looking from one to the other.

"Oh just checking the wiring in some of the buildings around here, making sure their still up to par," Sam quickly offered an explanation to her.

Amy nodded as she accepted the reason. "So you guys are electricians or something?"

"Or something," Dean said doggedly.

Amy gave him a confused and curious stare. Sam quickly cleared his throat and she turned to him again. Giving her a tight smile he asked her, "Amy, could you point us back towards the main building?"

"Oh yeah sure it's just over that way, I have to go this way anyways back to my dorm," Amy told them politely as she pointed off to her left.

Sam and Dean nodded to her. "Well it was nice meeting you Amy," Sam politely responded to her, Dean nodded his head.

Amy smiled at the both of them. "It was a pleasure to boys."

With that, she turned on her heel to walk to her dorm. Dean suddenly shouted at her from behind, and she turned to glance at him in confusion; she saw Dean waving something in the air as he came walking up to her.

"Hey, did you drop this?" he asked her as he held it out, "we assumed it was yours considering Sam swears it wasn't there when he got here."

Amy lightly takes the item and looks at it sitting in her palm. It's a candy bar, a Snickers to be exact. She frowns slightly to herself s she tries to remember where it came from. Suddenly, she realizes that she's wearing the coat that Gabe gave to her that one night a few weeks back. He must have had that sitting in there, and I'm just finding it now she was thinking to herself as she smiled up at the boys.

"Thanks guys, but it's not mine," Amy admitted to them, "but I think I know who this belongs to so thank you."

Sam and Dean both shrugged at her and gave her identical goofy smiles.

Amy quickly stuffed the chocolate bar back into her pocket and started to walk away. 'Oh Gabe,' she thought to herself as she smiled at the thought. She guessed it was his way of hoping that she would feel better soon, and she had to admit it did bring a warm feeling inside.

She was almost to her dorm when she saw an older boy wearing a red and white football jacket yelling at another boy. The one doing the yelling was probably about 5'7 or so Amy thought. He had dirty blonde hair, a pudgy kind of build and small piggish eyes. He was jeering at the other boy as he yelled at him.

The other boy was significantly smaller than the other guy. He had dark hair, possibly black, guarded eyes, and a small stature. He definitely wasn't as pudgy as the other guy, but he was lean and Amy had to bet that if she needed to bet on someone that could win a race of the two it would have to be the smaller boy.

Walking closer to the two arguing guys she could overhear what they were saying to each other.

"Look Steve, you can't keep over working all the players the way you're doing!" yelled the smaller man.

"I can do whatever the hell I want you little pansy so shut up and just do what I say!" yelled Steve, "I'm captain of the team not you so it's about time you learned that!"

The other guy sighed and rolled his eyes. "Seriously, just because you're the captain does not mean you have to work all your players as hard as you're doing, and it certainly doesn't mean that you can be a complete jerk and a bully also!"

"Say that again you little jerk," said Steve threateningly.

Amy felt as if she had to step in at this point before blows were going to be thrown. She didn't want to get involved but it felt wrong to her to be the bystander and let it all happen. Swallowing hard and mustering up all her courage, she walked over to the two arguing boys. They both stopped and stared at her as she came up to them.

"Hey, I couldn't help but overhearing back there-"Amy started to say but just then the bigger guy, Steve, cut her off.

"Well obviously you could since your interrupting us now," scoffed Steve to her.

Amy tensed slightly at his condescending tone of voice. She was shaking slightly not having stuck up for very many people before, and that was including herself as well. Still she knew that she had to stand her ground, something inside of her was telling her to take a stand, and she would try to listen to it no matter how much she was starting to get scared.

'Jazz is much more cut out for this than I am that's for sure,' Amy thought to herself.

Gritting her teeth together, she looked up at Steve. "Well you shouldn't treat people the way you do! It's mean and he's a person to!" she exclaimed gesturing over to the other boy, "everyone deserves respect and if everyone treated each other with kindness this place wouldn't be the way it is."

"Why you-"Steve started to say but was interrupted by a loud cough that came from the side of them.

They all turned and Amy saw Gabe standing there. None of them had even seen him walk up or heard him for that matter. He was incredibly quiet to have done that. Right now Gabe was staring at Steve with a hard glint to his eyes, perusing the younger boy up and down. Steve glared at him but shifted nervously from foot to foot under Gabe's intense stare.

"Is there a problem here?" asked Gabe somewhat innocently to the untrained ear, but Amy had heard this tone of voice, it was the voice that said either treat each other nicely or back off and I will make you. She tried to hold in a smile at Gabe and instead looked at Steve to see what his reaction would be.

"No problem at all," Steve said to assure Gabe, "just having a friendly conversation."

Gabe stared at him hard, Amy saw Steve swallow deeply, and a small drop of sweat run down the side of his face.

"I think you should beat it kid," said Gabe sternly, "I know trouble when I see it and I've heard enough with my own two ears so get lost."

Steve looked as if he was about to object but then something caught him. He seemed to pale slightly before Amy's eyes as he stared at Gabe. Turning her attention back to her friend, she noticed nothing different about him, but something had obviously happened that she missed to cause Steve to react the way he did.

Nodding nervously he quickly spun on his heel and dashed away.

Amy and the other boy watched him go then turned back to Gabe who was still standing there. He offered each one of them a broad smile and whistled.

"Well I don't think he'll be bothering you guys for quite some time anymore," Gabe said to them both, nonchalant, as he took another candy bar out of his pocket and un-wrapped it.

Amy rolled her eyes as she watched this display for what felt like the hundredth time, then asked, "Why do you say that, Gabe?"

"Because I know bullies, the trick with them is to stand up to them and show them whose boss. Once you do that, they scamper off faster than a dog with its tail between its legs," said Gabe in explanation.

The other boy that was standing next to them looked at Gabe and nodded in thanks. "Hey man, thanks for that, he's a real dick, treats all the guys like shit and over works us to the point where there have been a few collapses."

Gabe frowned at this and shook his head from side to side. "I'm sure he'll get what's coming to him soon man; in the meantime though take care of yourself and stay cool," Gabe replied winking at the boy.

The boy flashed a smile at them and nodded, turning around he started to walk in the opposite direction towards the boy's dorms.

Amy turned and looked at Gabe standing next to her.

"That was nice of you to step in," she remarked smiling at him, ignoring the uneasy concern over Gabe's last words in his sentence.

Gabe shrugged at that. "Ah any decent person would have done that."

Amy just rolled her shoulders at that. "Maybe, maybe not."

Gabe smiled at her then asked with total seriousness, "So how you feeling Aim's? Any better?"

Amy sighed and nodded her head. "Much better Gabe actually, thanks for asking."

Gabe stared at her sadly. "Want to talk about it yet?"

Amy shook her head as she smiled as a way of an apology towards him. "No Gabe, I'm just not quite ready yet, but I do promise you that when I'm ready to talk I will talk to all you guys."

Gabe nodded his head sadly at her; accepting her explanation graciously.

"Well I better get going, got a lot of stuff to do," Amy smiled at him trying to cheer up a little.

Gabe gave her one of his comical smirks and said, "That's the Aim I know, always studying, what an Einstein!"

Amy laughed at this and nodded. "Yup that's exactly who I am! Einstein!"

Gabe laughed with her then slowly started to turn away as Amy started to walk again.

"See you soon Aim!" Gabe called back to her retreating form.

Amy smiled and turned around to wave good-bye. As she did and looked behind her, she noticed that Gabe was nowhere in sight. Frowning to herself Amy scanned the whole immediate campus for a sign of his presence and found nothing to show her that he had been standing there the whole time.

Amy's frown deepened as she turned back to keep walking. She couldn't help but think one thing all the way back to her dorm.

'Are my fears actually rational?'


	22. Revelations: Friend or Foe?

**~x~**

**After Amy Walked Away (last chapter)**

**~x~**

Sam and Dean turned to one another. They both watched Amy walk away from them a brisk bounce in her steps. Dean raised his eyebrows at his little brother standing beside him.

"She seemed nice," Dean, replied offhand.

Sam nodded his head, his chocolate eyes taking in all of his surroundings as well as Amy. Dean watched his brother study all the buildings and rolled his eyes himself. He knew being in the hunter business required you to be paranoid but seriously?

"Yeah, she seems nice and level headed, unlike someone I know," Sam replied smirking a little to himself.

Dean slowly started nodding to himself then frowned and glared at his brother. "Hey!"

Sam chuckled and then his own brow furrowed as he stared off into the distance. "Hey man check it out," Sam said lightly tapping his brother and nodding in the direction that Amy had just walked away in.

Dean still frowning turned around to look at what had caught his brothers' eye. Amy had stopped half a block away from them and was in a conversation with two other boys. Dean didn't notice anything in particular happening that should make his brother weary, but then he noticed that the bigger guy was starting to shake his hands and his voice became louder.

Dean frowned at this common display of a jerk. Squaring his shoulders, he was just about to walk over and break up the argument when he noticed another man walk up and start to talk to the three.

Quietly Sam and Dean watched as the argument broke up and the big guy stomped off down the sidewalk. The man, Amy, and the other kid started talking to one another then and everything seemed to be stable once more.

Turning to his brother Dean shrugged at him. "Well I guess everything's okay now." Dean grabbed onto his brothers' shoulder and started to walk off with him.

They got so far when Sam became curious and looked behind him one more time. He frowned slightly as he saw Amy standing alone on the sidewalk looking confused behind her. She looked around on both sides, shrugged her shoulders, then turned around and headed back to what Sam thought to be the direction to her dorm room. Sam frowned at this slightly.

"Sam?" Dean stopped and asked turning around to see what was keeping his brother.

"Yeah?" asked Sam turning slightly to look at Dean.

"You okay, man?" Dean asked confusion saturating his voice.

Sam nodded. "Yeah let's truck out."

Turning around both brothers started to walk back down the sidewalk towards the main building on the campus.

Neither of them noticed the golden, amber eyes staring out at them from within one of the buildings off to the side.

**~x~**

**3 Days Later**

**~x~**

Amy walked out from her last class of the day. For the first time in weeks, she felt genuinely happy. Her thoughts of Gabe and Lance had come to a screeching halt for her. As for the blip with Jazz's eyes just shortly after all of this; she had written that off as well. Since she didn't hold a strong enough faith in anything supernatural, and her brain centered on logic, it really wasn't logical for her to be obsessing over these things needlessly.

Amy knew that she should keep her guard up, but to be honest it was just getting harder and more frustrating. Especially without Jazz's full support on this issue, Amy felt like she was up a river without a boat so to speak, never mind without a paddle. She had tried talking to Jazz numerous times about this same issue, but Jazz either brushed her off, or more recently became slightly fed up with her and her constant rants about it.

Besides, Amy had classes to worry about as well, she did not really have time to be playing super sleuth like the "_Mystery Inc."_

Coming out of one of the buildings and into the fresh March air, spring was fast approaching and she was looking forward to it. Sure, she loved winter but there was just something about spring. Everything seemed to wake up from its long winter slumber; which made her feel more alive and refreshed.

'Jeez Aim talk about the birds and the bees much,' Amy thought to herself as she started to make her way towards the library.

Shaking her head, she started to pass the main building in the grounds and looked up. Standing 20 feet away from her were those two guys that she had met the other day. Sam and Dean right? Amy slightly smiled at the two of them and started to walk over to them.

When she got close enough to them, she smiled and said, "Sam and Dean, right?"

Sam and Dean turned to stare at the soft-spoken voice coming from behind them. Seeing Amy standing behind them they both smiled at her.

"Hey Amy, what's up?" Dean asked her casually, a one hundred and twenty watt smile lighting up his face making his eyes twinkle at her.

"Oh nothing much, just got out of classes and heading towards the library now to do some extra studying," Amy explained to the two guys. She always had the impression from them that they weren't here to do her any harm so she felt at ease with the two of them.

"Oh you don't say?" said Dean a smirk starting to creep along his features.

Amy cocked her head to the side as she stared at him in confusion. "Yes why?"

Dean chuckled and flashed a quick glance at his brother. Sam looked back at him questioningly and frowned slightly. Otherwise, he remained quiet as he waited to see what his brother would put forth.

"Well it's just Sam here," Dean said gesturing to his brother, "he's a huge book nerd and I swear the books he reads are the only lovers he's ever had in his life; so maybe he would like to keep you company?"

Amy flushed slightly at this statement and Sam stared bullet holes through his brothers' head behind him, bitch face number fifty clearly plastered over his face.

Dean seemingly not noticing or just not caring about what his brother was thinking at him kept looking at Amy with a slight twinkle in his eye. Amy coughed slightly and stammered out a reply.

"Umm no offence or anything but I have a test coming up in a few days and I really need to study for it so if you don't mind…" she trailed off.

"We understand Amy, my brother here was just pulling your leg is all," Sam said gently to her.

Amy quietly nodded her head at Sam and smiled again the blush slowly fading from her cheeks but still tainting them a delicate shade of pink.

Dean coughed and rolled his eyes slightly as if to say to Sam, "Yeah sure I'm just kidding, as if," but Sam quickly glared at him and he didn't say anything more.

Amy turned slightly to keep walking off when Dean cut her off. "Hey Amy, where is the library exactly around here?"

Amy pointed at the building directly across from the main building, giving a full view of the square and everything in it.

"Right over there," she said gently, "it's not far for me to walk to and I like to sit at one of the huge bay windows and watch the people outside when I'm taking a slight break, besides it's nice to study in the sun."

"Yeah I bet it is," scoffed Dean. Amy gave him a puzzled frown and he waved her off mumbling, "Nothing, nothing."

Sam shook his head. "Amy can you answer one other question for us before you leave?"

Amy shrugged at this. "Sure what else can I help you with?"

"This main building back here," Sam gestured with his hand at the building behind the two brothers, "it only has four stories right?"

Amy nodded her head. "Yes why?"

"Well there wouldn't happen to be a room 669 would there?" asked Sam a slight frown coming across his features.

Amy shook her head at this. "No there isn't as far as I know, besides that, I don't think there are more than five floors on this campus in any of the buildings so you're out of luck with that room."

Sam shook his head and Dean frowned at something over her shoulder. Amy stared at the two of them, completely puzzled as to where this question had come from.

"Why do you guys ask anyways?" asked Amy slightly suspicious of this.

Sam just shrugged and gave her a slightly crooked smile. "Just wondering," he replied offhand.

Amy shrugged and gave a slight smile. "Hey so wait you guys asked about the library earlier, you going to check the wiring out there to?"

Dean gave a slightly puzzled frown and looked at her. "Checking out the wiring?" Sam gave his brother a sharp jab in the middle of his back and Dean turned to frown at him. Amy's eyebrows rose at this treatment but she nodded slowly.

"Yeah…when I met you guys earlier you said that you were checking the wiring in these buildings, isn't that what you guys are or something, electricians?"

"Ohhh!" Dean exclaimed and Sam just rolled his eyes, "yeah we have to check there to; this nice janitor was showing us around the main building, he was a big help."

Amy nodded slowly. She had a slight thought in her head that the janitor was Gabe but she kept that to herself. For some reason she had a feeling that she shouldn't mention that she knew Gabe to these guys. It was absolutely bizarre that she thought that, and she couldn't justify it to herself, but none the less she went with her gut instinct; it never steered her wrong before and it wouldn't do so now.

"Okay well anyways, I'm going to head out so I'll see you guys around maybe?" Amy asked the two of them.

Sam and Dean nodded to her and both said goodbye as she turned around to leave.

She had barely taken five steps away when she felt something slip from under her arm and fall onto the hard concrete below with a wet smack.

"Oh no," Amy pouted as she turned around to see what had fallen, bending down to pick it up.

Dean beat her to it though and reached down onto the still soggy pavement, from the melting snow, to retrieve her paper. Looking down on it, Dean raised his eyebrows at the black and white print and pictures as his eyes scanned the cover of the paper. Amy's face flushed as she recognized what he had picked up. Dean looked up at her and smiled.

"You read the "_Weekly World News?" _he asked her conversationally.

Amy flushed slightly at this and looked down at the sidewalk kicking her sneaker at a crack in the pavement. Since her eyes were averted from the two brothers, they exchanged a quick, shocked look to one another before she looked up again.

"Umm yeah, truth is sometimes I get curious and I like to read some bogus things," Amy started to explain quietly, completely lying about the real reason. Dean snorted in his mind as he thought of how close this girl was to some actual supernatural truth and she didn't seem to even notice it. Amy sighed and looked directly at the two of them. "See I'm curious of the supernatural, kind of always had been to be honest. I deal with more logical things in life, however, I think that's why the supernatural fascinate me, and it defies logic in many ways. That paper is a way for my imagination to run away even though I know it cannot be true. What can I say? Everyone has a guilty pleasure and that one's mine."

Dean shrugged at her and offered an encouraging smile. "Hey don't worry about it Amy no one is judging anyone here believe me; but if you want my advice on this kind of stuff don't snoop too deeply into it."

Amy gave them both a puzzled look but neither one seemed to want to elaborate on it. Instead, they waved to her and turned to walk back down the sidewalk in the opposite direction.

Amy was left there standing in confusion watching as their two backs slowly faded into the press of student bodies' still milling about. Looking down at the paper in her hands she took in the headline title, _"Tricksters are among us!" _Scoffing Amy shook her head and tucked it back into her books under her arm.

Turning around she headed back to the library thinking to herself, 'Dean's right, if I let this get to my imagination to much I think my head will explode.'

**~x~**

**Later that Night**

**9:00 p.m.**

**~x~**

Amy packed her things up and started to walk out of the library. Mrs. Lena was a strict person but over the course of the year, Amy had slowly built up a friendship with the snappish librarian. By proving to her that she could keep quiet, do her work, and return books she had taken out on time the librarian immediately warmed up to her. She guessed it also helped that the books were always returned in pristine condition and that she was always friendly to her so kind of a win, win.

Mrs. Lena had quietly come and told her that it was time to go. Jump-starting at this Amy looked out the window and over at the time hanging not too far away and her eyes bugged out slightly at the time.

'9'oclock already?' Amy thought to herself in shock.

She knew that she had been studying hard but she had no idea that she had been here so long already. Oh well, she hadn't really been able to concentrate for weeks now so she guessed she should just be thankful that she was able to finally get work done.

Walking out into the night air, she took a nice deep breath and looked around. It was dark already; the days longer but the night still coming a little too soon for her liking.

"Good night dearie, I'll see you soon," Mrs. Lena said softly behind her, as she got ready to lock the door.

Amy turned around and smiled at the older woman. "Goodnight Mrs. Lena, I'll see you soon."

Mrs. Lena nodded her head and started down the sidewalk. Amy watched her go, and within five minutes, she went around the corner and disappeared from her sight.

Turning back around she started to walk back to her dorm. Suddenly, she heard the padding of footsteps on the other side of the courtyard and turned to see who was making the noise. If there was one thing her parents always stressed to her, it was to be aware of your surroundings at all times, especially night. Considering their advice, she looked over and saw a big set boy walking across the pavement by the main building.

Frowning Amy could just make out his red jacket that he was wearing, the short dirty blonde hair illuminated by the lights overhead and his sour face as he walked with his head slightly down.

Amy swallowed nervously; the last time she had encountered the guy he had seemed like he had wanted to punch her. Nervously Amy gripped her books tighter to her chest and quickly ducked behind a wall of concrete beside her. Slowly, she peered over the top of the low wall only her eyes and forehead visible. Her heart started to pound slightly.

Frowning again Amy started to think to herself, 'Why am I so nervous, he didn't spot me and it's not likely that he's going to now, so why do I get the feeling that something's about to happen?'

Hunkering down she kept watching him; her hair standing up along her arms. Her knees were slightly soggy from the damp grass under her and were starting to seize up. Just when she thought that this was stupid and she should just crouch and go the other way, even though it was longer, she heard the sound.

A low buzzing noise filled the air of the courtyard. Frowning, she looked around her, she couldn't make out anything that could be creating the noise and never before had she heard the sound anytime this year, or ever for that matter. It was more like a low humming noise, not quite like an insects humming that they make when they fly by your ear, and not quite as loud as an air conditioner unit, it was like nothing she had ever heard before.

Just when Amy thought, she was the only one that could hear it the boy looked around him and above him.

'He's looking for the noise to! I'm not crazy!' Amy thought to herself in surprise.

Pressing her finger to her lip, she thought to herself, 'Then what exactly is it?'

Suddenly the boy started running in a panic across the damp grass of the courtyard near the tree where she had first met Gabe. Looking up above him in a panic, he tripped to the ground. Stumbling he caught himself and kept trying to run but he was swaying slightly.

Looking up to the sky at what the guy surely saw; Amy squinted into the inky blackness of the night. Weird, she could have sworn that it was a clear night and that the stars were out. Frowning she squinted harder; suddenly, she realized that it wasn't cloudy. Her eyes becoming wide in a panic, her heart stopped and her breathing became shallow. Whatever was blocking out the stars and making the low humming noise was hovering right above the courtyard.

Suddenly, a beam of light shot down on the kid and engulfed him. Before Amy could even react, the boy started to be taken up into the air. She could see him waving his hands, and screaming at the top of his lungs in fear.

Amy watched still crouching behind the wall in wide-eyed panic. Listening to the boys screams she gazed on, as if mesmerized, as he was slowly lifted up and sucked upwards towards the thing in the sky.

Now that the beam of light was shining from the center of the aircraft, Amy could see it more clearly. Whatever it was it looked like a huge circle; probably black in colour with other little lights blinking on it.

'Weird that I didn't notice those lights earlier,' Amy thought to herself as she stared at the thing.

The more she looked at it the more she came to realize that what she was staring at was a UFO. It had to be judging by its shape and size, and what she was witnessing was an honest to God abduction.

Shuddering and shaking with what Amy knew to be fear and not the cold March weather, she gulped to herself, feeling her eyes become hot and tears start to well up.

Suddenly, just as soon as it had started it stopped. The boy was taken into the flying aircraft, the beam of light disappeared, and within the blink of an eye the space ship just vanished right before her eyes.

Panting and crying at the overwhelming emotions of fear, anguish, and sadness Amy stared up at the empty night sky. Now she could see the stars winking back at her, silent witnesses to what had just occurred right in front of her.

Trembling Amy clutched at her heart and tried to force herself to calm down. Closing her eyes, she rested her forehead against the concrete in front of her, using its cold biting edge to help her relax.

Before Amy could fully calm down however she heard a joyful laugh out from across the grounds. Looking up Amy scanned the courtyard again for the noise. Frantically moving her eyes from side to side, she looked for the source and became increasingly distressed when she couldn't make out the person creating it.

Then before her very eyes, someone seemed to melt out from the tree where the boy had practically just been.

Amy stared at them silently like a rabbit staring at a fox. Too afraid to move and too scared to hide, she studied the person waiting for them to leave.

Something inside Amy screamed at her that this person was dangerous and that she should keep her distance, and yet something else told her she could trust this person for some odd reason. However, Amy was too lost in her warring emotions inside to fully pay attention to her instincts, right now; all she was thinking was fight or flight.

Trembling, Amy suddenly realized that she had heard that exact same laugh before. Staring in horror at the person on the ground as they turned more into the light, she saw dark golden, almost honey colored hair, and bright almond eyes sparkling in mirth. Suddenly the man took a bite of a chocolate bar in his hands as he still chuckled. Even from this distance, Amy could still see everything.

Frantically her mind tried to repel what it unfortunately already knew, and her heart seemed to squeeze and twist in on itself as it refused to feel anymore. Without bothering to keep his voice down the man looked up to the sky and said loudly enough that even Amy could hear, "Well I told them that he would get exactly what he deserved, and I have to say that was one of my better ideas so far."

Amy gasped horrified as all the facts started to click in her head, all her suspicions being confirmed right before her very eyes, and deep overwhelming pain at knowing that her friend was actually a murderer. Her brain completely shutting down at what she had just witnessed, allowing the endorphins secreted by fear to take over.

Amy could not keep her voice silent any longer and a distressed cry left her lips as more tears blurred her vision and fell hot down her cheeks, staining them with little trails of water.

The man suddenly turned to her even at her first gasp and stared at her with wide, unbelieving eyes. Slowly he took a step towards her and Amy stared at him with her red and tear filled gaze directly locked onto his own amber, honey eyes.

Staring at her in horror Gabe said to her softly, "Amy?"

Was that fear and guilt crowding his voice? Amy shook her head and suddenly, not knowing where she found the energy to do this, she bolted out from behind the concrete wall. Vaulting over it, she tossed her books to the side and pounded down the sidewalk.

"Amy! Wait!" Gabe yelled after her but she was too distraught and panicked to listen to him.

Not even bothering to see if he was chasing her she forced her body to run as quickly as it could. There were times when she would watch shows where the girl was running away from her killer, kind of like how she felt here, and she would sit on the edge of the couch watching, screaming at the television, "Go faster!" Now she realized that it was a lot harder to do than it looked.

Her breaths coming out in panicked huffs, her knees sore from kneeling so long, her eyes blurry and preventing her from seeing her surroundings clearly all added up to her slowing down. Her heart felt like it was pushing out 500 beats a second never mind a minute and she swore that she could hear the blood rushing through her ears.

Hyperventilating even more she turned a corner and stopped dead. She was standing at a dead end and had nowhere else to run or hide. Just when she was beginning to back up and go another way, she stopped. Standing at the mouth of the alley behind her was Gabe, looking at her with sad but otherwise unreadable eyes.

Amy gasped in fright and backed up until she felt the wall digging into her back. What is going on? She had been all over this campus and never once before had she ever found a dead end! Where the hell did it come from?

Gabe slowly started to walk towards her. Panicking even more Amy started to push back against the wall, scrabbling against the brick, leaving her hands bloody; against all logic, she was hoping to sink right through and onto the other side. Logic seemed to just have soared right out of her brain though in the face of her quite possible death here.

"I'm not going to hurt you Amy, just calm down please," Gabe pleaded gently with her talking to her in calm, quiet, soothing tones.

Amy shook her head. 'No! He's just saying that to get your guard down and then he's going to kill you like he did with that other guy!'

Amy shook her head from side to side in fear, whimpers escaping her mouth and sobs being choked out from deep within her that it felt as if it were coming from her very soul.

Gabe frowned and raised an eyebrow. If Amy wasn't panicking as badly as she was she would think that it was an odd reaction…almost like he was reading her mind but that wasn't coming anywhere near her mind at the moment.

"Amy look we need to talk and I can assure you that I can explain all of this," Gabe said raising his hands in the universal gesture of 'I don't mean any harm'.

Amy shook her head and sidled away from him sideways. The alley was to narrow so that she couldn't get around him without him grabbing her and there was no weapons around to use to defend herself. Whimpering again Amy stared at him in absolute fear.

Gabe sighed as he stared at her, witnessing her overwhelming fear taking over. Looking down at the ground quickly he thought to himself, 'I don't have a choice. She's freaking out too much to listen to me right now and I can't have her leave until she understands everything. I could just get rid of her memories of this night but I don't want to lie like this to her anymore.'

Gabe looked up at her and Amy flinched as his amber eyes penetrated her own blue stare. Slowly Gabe started to walk over to Amy, who was frantically trying to back into the corner away from him.

Once he got close enough one of her hands shot out and attempted to slap him. Easily grabbing her hand in midair he stopped her. Staring up at him with wide and fearful eyes, more tears threatening to brim over, he grabbed onto the arm that was holding her other arm captive; Amy tried to pry his grip free but it felt like trying to move a mountain with just your pinky finger. Her heart beating faster as she realized that she couldn't escape Amy started to raise her leg to kick out at him. As if sensing what her move was and just waiting for her to do it Gabe pounced.

Quickly he moved to stand in between her legs and pin the lower half of her body against the wall using his own lower half. Hips meeting each other he pressed against her to keep her as still as possible in this position. Amy panicked even more; in this kind of position she couldn't use her legs to defend herself and before she could use her other hand to try and fend him off, Gabe grabbed both of her hands and pinned them above her head with one of his own.

Amy went crazy trying to buck him off; when that didn't work she resorted to screaming hoping that someone had to have heard and would come to investigate.

"Please! Can someone hear me! Help me please!" Amy screamed out sobbing on the last word.

Gabe stared at her sadly. "Amy it's no use no one can hear you."

"No! You're lying! Please someone, anyone, get him off of me!" Amy screamed louder in desperation.

Gabe sighed sadly and said to her quietly, "I'm sorry about this Amy, but it has to be done this way."

Amy stared at him in wide-eyed fear and panic as Gabe slowly lifted his free hand.

'Oh my God this is it, he's going to kill me right here and now,' Amy thought to herself in complete panic, 'God please if you're listening to this I don't want to die yet please!'

Gabe seemed to get even more troubled after she thought that and Amy had to wonder if he could really read her thoughts. Before she could let that thought take over, she saw that his fingers were very close to her face, almost touching her forehead.

"I'm sorry about all of this," Gabe whispered out as he gently pressed his fingertips to her forehead.

Before Amy could summon the energy for one last scream or one last fight for survival darkness started to creep up on her and pull her down into unconsciousness against her will.

The last thing she saw was Gabe staring directly at her seemingly in deep sadness.

Before she lost consciousness, Amy could have sworn she heard Gabe whisper one last thing.

"I'm sorry."


	23. Thing's Aren't Always as they Seem

"Please don't hurt me!" Amy screamed at Gabe, desperately pleading with him to let her go.

Gabe gazed at her sadly with those deep amber eyes as he looked on her struggles. "I'm sorry Amy but I can't until you finally understand everything," stated Gabe softly.

Amy did not want to hear this, and thrashed harder against the man, or thing, whatever the hell it was to let her go. Suddenly, she saw Gabe's hand rise up. Another burst of adrenaline skyrocketed through her system as her struggles became more pronounced in a last ditch effort to escape.

Before Gabe pressed his fingers against her forehead, she heard him whisper, "I am so sorry Amy."

The press of his cool fingers against her forehead was the last thing that she felt as darkness started to creep on her and drag her down into its welcoming embrace. She was falling and falling, suddenly…

"No!" Amy shouted out as she bolted up right from where she was lying down.

Wincing she clutched her head. The sudden act of her shooting up from sleeping made her feel dizzy and nauseous and she shut her eyes tightly as the room spun before her eyes. Her whole body seemed exhausted, mentally, emotionally and physically. Her brain felt slow and lethargic if that was even possible as she tried to process everything that she had just seen.

'Gabe is actually bad,' Amy thought to herself in her head as she waited for her body to adjust and get back on track, 'I was right all along.'

Instead of the thought making her feel proud of herself, she instead felt disgusted and saddened by it. How could someone that was so nice to her be a person like this? More importantly, what the hell was he? For something to be able to do that absolutely blew her mind away and Amy shuddered to think at the thing keeping her forcefully here.

Taking a deep breath, Amy slowly lowered her feet down to the floor. She had recognized this room to be the same room that Gabe had brought her before, and she shuddered at the thought. Everything had been okay then; well somewhat anyways. She was still having doubts about him even then, but she was able to deceive herself somewhat at the time. Now she couldn't and she was incapable of doing so. The idea made her mad, at him rather than herself, for allowing herself to be smacked with this, a completely unexplainable situation.

Steadying herself, Amy slowly padded around the bed to the closed door. Tip toeing to the door she grabbed the handle. Pausing to take a deep breath, she entertained the thought of hearing her heart pound. It was beating frighteningly fast that she thought for a second that it would leap up into her throat; her stomach knotting horrendously at the thought of what could possibly be waiting on the other side of this door for her.

Shuddering Amy thought to herself, 'Okay Amy, you can do this girl, just think of it like riding a bicycle for the first time…that is absolutely horrible I should so give myself better pep talks,' Amy thought to herself angrily as she shook her head in disgust.

Adrenaline still pumping through her veins, she slowly turned the doorknob. The door opened a hairs breadth for her not even squeaking. Slowly, Amy peered out through the crack at the room beyond and everything that she could see. The TV mounted on the wall was playing a show, but it was muted so she couldn't understand anything that was being said. It was silent beyond that; nothing appeared to be moving and she couldn't discern any footsteps padding around; the room itself seemed relatively untouched since her last visit.

Opening the door slightly wider, she peaked her head out from around the corner. No one was in the kitchen either and the other door leading to the other room and the bathroom were both closed. No noises were coming from either closed door. Hesitatingly Amy stepped out from the room and gently started to shut the door somewhat refraining from actually closing it completely.

Amy let out a deep breath, having not noticed until then that she was holding it in. Trying to calm her racing heart she started to make her way to the front door on the balls of her feet. Her breaths were coming in short pants as her mind spun with what ifs.

'What if he comes back and I'm not out of here yet?'

'What if he decides to kill me?'

'What if he, decides to kill me, and does it slowly and painfully?'

'What if-'

'Okay Amy you have got to quit thinking that way, seriously, you're almost to the door just a little farther and then your home free,' Amy thought to herself as she mentally chided herself.

Reaching the door, she grabbed the doorknob in her right hand and turned it. Nothing. Staring at the door handle in puzzlement she tried turning it again; and again nothing happened the door wouldn't budge. Starting to feel her breath come out in pants, she could feel herself start to hyperventilate once more. Trying one more time to open the door she said a quick mental prayer to God to please let her out; although she wasn't what she would call a religious person, she wasn't above trying everything. When it still wouldn't turn she frowned at it as she felt her whole body go numb.

"Shit," Amy mumbled to herself.

A low whistle came from behind her. "Wow, you know I didn't think I would ever hear the great Amy swear."

Spinning around, she accidentally tripped in her haste and her back smacked hard against the wood in an attempt to balance herself. Planting her hands on the door to hold onto it for balance, she stared at Gabe standing behind her.

Knowing that he was something supernatural she wasn't surprised at all to see him standing behind her all nonchalant, calm, and cool. Yet Amy could have sworn that she saw a flicker of trepidation and sadness reflected in his eyes.

Swallowing thickly Amy squashed down any emotions that she felt at looking within his eyes and glared back at Gabe. Balling her hands up into fists, she stood tall and looked him straight in the face with the hardest gaze that she could muster. She was terrified; death could be standing not ten feet away and here she was trying to look at it bravely straight in the face. Who was she trying to kid? She wasn't ready to die and she sure as hell did not want to die today; but there was no way that she was going to cry and snivel and beg for her life like she did earlier. If this really were the end this time, then she would face it with as much dignity as she could muster.

"So what? Is this it then? You're going to kill me?" asked Amy in false bravado.

Gabe sighed and shook his head at her. Stuffing his hands into the pockets of his worn blue jeans, he stared at her as if looking into her very soul. Amy shuddered at the analogy and deftly crossed her arms in front of her chest in an effort to conceal herself. Noticing too late that she had hunched in on herself and instead of making herself appear to be tall, confident and unafraid she instead made herself look small, weak, and terrified.

"I'm not going to hurt you Amy," Gabe said to her gently in an effort to soothe the poor frightened girl in front of him.

Amy frowned. "You're lying! You just want me to let my guard down and then that's when you'll pounce! I know how you kind of people think," Amy finished off quietly.

Gabe looked at her in confusion. "What do you mean? What kind of people?"

Amy looked at him in aghast at the casual way he was talking about murdering people and yet still not acknowledging what it was for what it was. How could he be so callous in taking lives and not even…

Gritting her teeth Amy spat out her answer, "Murderer! That is what you are! You killed those people and who knows how many more!"

"I am a lot of things Amy but I assure you that I mean you no harm," Gabe said softly not even addressing what she had just said to him.

Amy shook her head. "Prove it; let me go then."

Gabe stared at her in bafflement. "Look, I don't need to prove it; you're still alive aren't you? That's reason enough. If I had wanted to kill you I would have done so already not bring you back here and start talking to you."

"How do I know you just don't like to play with your victims or your food?" asked Amy in all seriousness.

Gabe stared at her aghast. "You think that I'm going to eat you?"

Amy raised an eyebrow at this as if to say, 'Umm yeah? It's possible.'

Gabe started to chuckle to himself as he scratched the back of his head. Amy glared at him in puzzlement and anger. Why was he laughing at her? To her this was incredibly serious; so why was he acting so indifferent right now?

"Amy, I'm definitely not going to eat you," Gabe said still chuckling, "and for the record, even though you won't believe me, I don't want to harm you either. In fact no harm is going to come to you while you're with me and that you can be sure about if nothing else. Oh and you're not exactly my flavor."

Amy stared at Gabe skeptically and blushed when he had said that about her. How did she know if he was really going to hurt her or not? She didn't, she only had his word to go off on and that didn't seem too great at the moment. Also, when he had mentioned the flavor part…why had she felt a twinge of sadness shoot through her core? It was almost as if she wanted a connection with him, deeper than one she had already.

Gabe rubbed his eyebrow and started to walk off towards the kitchen. Amy flinched at the sudden movement and watched him wearily. Gabe raised his hands up in surrender and even rolled his eyes as he kept walking to the kitchen.

"Relax; like I said I'm not going to hurt you," Gabe huffed out slightly frustrated, "I just need some kind of chocolate or something sweet in order to deal with all of this."

Amy watched him with narrowed eyes as he walked over to the small table situated in the kitchen. Then, before her very eyes, Gabe waved his hands and piles of food appeared on the once empty table.

A huge five-tiered cake stood in the center dripping with frosting and chocolate sauce. An assortment of other sweets surrounded the huge cake; brownies, cookies, chocolate dipped strawberries. Even some other junk food like M&M's, Kit Kats, Sour patch kids and other assorted popular sweet tasting food was stacked around; everything high in sugar and calories. Amy's stomach did a nauseating turn at all of the junk food heaped around each other.

Gabe grabbed a chocolate covered strawberry and bit into the tip. Moaning aloud he savored the taste slowly and methodically. Chewing and swallowing the chocolate, he plopped the rest of the strawberry in his mouth and licked his fingers of any excess chocolate and strawberry juice.

Amy just watched him, stunned at what she had just seen. She couldn't believe that he had just created all of that food out of thin air; but then again he had created that UFO so I guess this wasn't too much of a stretch for him. Watching him closely, she had blushed beat red when Gabe had started to eat the strawberry seductively and then lick his fingers of any stray pieces of chocolate.

Gabe raised an eyebrow at her staring and Amy came back to earth at this. Glaring at him, she crossed her arms in front of her chest and watched him closely. Gabe only shook his head and grabbed a dark chocolate chip cookie.

"So Amy, what do you want to ask me?" asked Gabe as he took a large bite of the cookie.

Amy snorted. "What do you mean about asking you something?"

Gabe quirked one of his eyebrows at her and snorted in amusement. "Oh please, are you telling me that after everything that you've just seen you're not going to ask me anything?"

Amy fidgeted from foot to foot nervously. On one hand she sure was curious, but on the other hand she knew that as soon as he told her anything he would kill her; regardless of what he had said before.

Gabe seemingly to read her mind once again, which she didn't put past him, rolled his eyes and heaved a great sigh of frustration. "Okay fine, let's start small then and maybe you'll get over your stage fright with me and start talking. Personally, I think conversations are much better when there are two people involved but everyone has different likes. Now my name isn't Gabe, it's actually Loki."

Amy was ready to snort at Gabe but then he dropped the bombshell and said his name was Loki. Amy's eyes bugged out of her head and her heart seemed to stop for a quick second. Loki seemed to read her shock and he gave her a wide smirk.

"Ah why do I get the impression from you that you already know who I am?" asked Loki producing a sinister looking smirk.

Amy swallowed harshly and nodded her head. "Are you serious? You're Loki?"

Loki shrugged his shoulders at her and raised his brows. "Guilty."

Amy scoffed and turned slightly to the side. Suddenly, she started mumbling fast to herself, "No that can't be right. Loki is the Norse God of a trickster. His sole purpose in life is to take the high and mighty and knock them down a peg."

Gabe or Loki on the other hand, seemed to not have too keen of an interest in his own history and grabbed slice of cake. Forking a whole spoonful of cake into his mouth, he let out a loud moan. Amy ignored him as she kept thinking.

"So which means that all of those people so far that have been attacked, Missy, that other jerk that tried to give me a hard problem, Professor Cox, and now Jock boy were all his victims…and one is already dead…" Amy silently concluded to herself.

Just then, Loki seemed to decide to voice his opinions, "You know if it helps any, I haven't killed as many people this time around."

Amy turned and stared at him aghast. "Oh jeez Gabe-"

"Loki," Loki interrupted her.

"Whatever, Loki then," Amy said brushing this off, "that does not make this better! You just admitted you have killed a person, which is a crime!"

"Oh tell it to the judge Amy," Gabe retorted out at her glaring somewhat.

Amy took a hesitant step back. "What is that supposed to mean?'

Gabe rolled his eyes. "Look in this world there are those that are good and those that are bad. Some people take advantage of these good people and try to make their life a living hell; now me, I try to help all the good people. So I punish the bad."

Amy rolled her eyes in frustration at Loki. "But who put you in charge to judge all these people Loki! I highly doubt that you have a certificate saying that you can prank people to death…literally!"

Loki seemed to actually consider this as he looked up at the ceiling and scratched his chin. "Well no I'll admit I don't have one of those, but I bet I could come up with one and it would be incredibly awesome!"

Amy just huffed in aggravation. "No killing people is wrong!"

Loki glared at her. "Okay fine and what those people did was right? Missy bullied not just you but every single person on this campus. She treated everyone like they were her own personal slaves! Everyone has issues after running across her. That other kid that tried to hit you…well you do not want to know about his story, and Jerk face the jock! Please! He nearly trained his team to drop dead from exhaustion. And that's a fact! None of these people have done anything else in their lives for someone else other than themselves. They have all benefitted from something they have done and all they know what to do is make everyone feel like trash. So don't just stand there Amy and defend them when they have all wronged you in some way shape or form!"

Loki finished his tirade and his cheeks were red, his eyes seemed to bristle and sparkle with anger and even his hair seemed to stand on end with power.

Amy stared at him shocked for a few minutes completely speechless. She had never seen Ga- no Loki so angry before. Well, she caught snippets of it yeah, but never anything this bold. Swallowing a few times to find her voice she gazed directly at Gabe and said, "And what about Professor Cox?"

Gabe stared at her; this time he was the one shocked speechless. Rubbing his eyes tiredly, he looked at her. "Don't you see Amy? He was married, wife, and two kids. He had a good home, a loving family, he was well off in money, and he was helping to train the next generation to be successful. Yet he was never happy with what he had. He constantly abused his position as a teacher. Someone students should look towards for guidance, a strong shoulder to lean on, someone that is there to help them. Basically a friend; and no, what does he end up doing? He uses his position to threaten some students with failing grades if they don't have sex with him. Sometimes he even uses brute force and rapes them, telling them in the end that no one will ever believe them. You're not the first one this has happened to Amy and you wouldn't have been the last, trust me. You were just lucky to get away."

Amy shook her head. "Be that as it may Loki, no one ever said that you were supposed to kill them. Life isn't just black and white. There are shades of gray in all situations!"

Gabe growled in frustration. "What do I have to do to prove to you that I'm not the bad guy!"

Amy glared and shouted back at him, "Well for one stop killing people, two stop killing people, and three stop killing people!"

Gabe shook his head angrily as his eyebrows knotted together in anger. "No Amy; this is who I am and this is what I do. Nothing you say is ever going to change this or change me. So I'm sorry but just no."

It was quiet in the room after this; the only sounds that could be heard were the quick breathing from Loki and Amy. Neither of the other two looked at each other now as they both rolled things around within their own minds.

'He thinks killing people is justifiable, but then that makes him just as bad as common murderers,' Amy thought to herself, 'why can't my friend see that what he's doing is wrong? Why did he ever start doing something like this in the first place? I know the world is rotten, in many ways, but I still have hope for it. Yes our justice system is flawed and yes criminals get off every day for heinous crimes but I have to believe that there is still a light of hope.'

Gabe scoffed in his head. 'She's trying to change me into something I'm not. She thinks that killing people that do despicable acts is wrong but really, who are the wrong ones them or us? Us for killing them, or them for poorly wasting away the precious life that God has given them? She hasn't been on this planet long enough to realize this; it's easy for someone like her to say that she still believes in human kind but I have seen all the atrocities committed by man. Brother against brother; and that shames me the most. They think that hurting a stranger is not a crime against them but in reality it's an even greater sin then what they will ever know.'

After a few minutes of quiet contemplation from both parties, Loki began to laugh. Amy's head turned so sharply that she almost cracked her neck it felt like. Glaring at Loki, she watched the trickster double over laughing.

"What's so funny?" she asked icily.

"Well you to be honest," Gabe answered honestly, "I mean I have never seen someone so naïve before to believe that this world is still so pure."

Amy frowned. "I never said something like that necessarily. This world still has some good people and while our justice system is not perfect it is based on people's ideals and hopes for a better world. No one asked you to be our own personal karma Loki, so stop it!"

Loki shook his head. "No I won't."

Amy shook her head in sadness. "Then I just have one more question for you."

Gabe stared at her suddenly. The sound of her voice was very quiet and gentle. It sounded like someone that had just given up fighting for something they really believed in. Loki frowned at this but awaited Amy to elaborate.

"Why me?" she asked quietly.

Loki frowned in puzzlement. "Why you?"

"Yeah, why did you kill all those people that gave me a hard time," Amy asked quietly, "don't try to deny it Loki; all of those people had direct confrontations with me to some degree and each one has been hit with something by you. So why are you being so protective of me?"

Loki sighed and looked away from Amy. Scratching his head awkwardly, he grabbed another chocolate and popped it completely into his mouth. Shrugging he decided to answer her.

"Honestly, I'm not really sure myself," Loki admitted to her.

Amy stared at him sadly and nodded. "I can't have those people's deaths on my conscious Loki or anything that happens to them. I just, I can't understand your ways and I'm sorry but I never asked for this."

Gabe frowned at her. "Now hold on a second, you didn't kill those people or prank those people I did. Let me tell you something squirt, whether they had interactions with you or not, I would have targeted them sooner or later so don't beat yourself up about it."

Amy sadly stared down at the floor and refused to even acknowledge everything Loki had just said at the moment. Loki sighed, and the room elapsed into a quiet depression.

'This wasn't the way things were supposed to go,' Gabe thought to himself sadly, as he closed his eyes.

Suddenly, the both of them heard shouting from out in the hallway outside of Loki's room.

"Lance stop it! This is huge! Amy's going to flip when she finds out about Loki and now you're going to add us to the mix! I'm sorry but I don't remember this ice cream coming with three scoops, just the one," Amy could hear Jazz say on the other side of the door.

A few seconds later, she could hear Lance's voice answer back to Jazz.

"Look Jazz, yes she's going to be hurt and upset about Loki, but that also means that she's going to be upset about us if we keep our real identities hidden. We can't do that to her anymore! It's best if we just tell her now while all of this is still fresh instead of hitting her later about us," Lance insisted quietly back to Jazz.

Amy could hear Jazz give a huge huff at Lance's answer.

"And how do you exactly know what she wants to hear? Maybe we should just wait and let her have some time. This has got to be surreal for her, I mean it's not every day that a human figures out about the supernatural realm!" Jazz actually somewhat shouted at Lance.

Amy's eyes started to get wider. So it was true then; Lance and Jazz also had something to do with this whole thing. Taking a deep breath Amy steeled herself for what she surely knew was going to hit her on the other side of that door.

"So what Jazz? Lie to her even more? You know we can't do that!" Lance exclaimed angrily. "No I'm going to tell her whether you agree or not and that's just about me; if you don't want to be known yet then you can leave, but ask yourself this, are you really a true friend if you're going to continue to lie to her about yourself? Hell Jazz, she's been honest with you! So why can't you be honest with her?"

With that, Amy could hear a scuffling and banging on the other side of the door. Suddenly, Loki's door flew open and banged loudly against the wall. Lance stumbled into the room with Jazz locked around him trying to wrestle his arms away. She was clutching onto his back like a huge monkey and if this were any kind of other circumstances she would have laughed; but instead she just stared at the two of them.

Lance gently started to untangle Jazz from around him. "Jeez you're like a huge rubber band, get off."

Jazz snorted but otherwise listened to him and slowly lowered herself down to the ground. Amy stared at the both of them intently. Lance stared directly at her but Jazz looked down towards the ground and wouldn't meet her gaze.

Lance cleared his throat. "So Amy, I guess you and Loki have talked about everything?"

Amy nodded her head. "Everything about him, but nothing about you two; what's your story?"

Lance fidgeted. "Well Amy, I'm actually a warlock."

Amy's eyebrows went up at this. "Really?"

Lance nodded. "I was originally born in the 13th century. My parents were poor and we got by on meager scraps of food and anything we could scavenge. I was very young when I lost my parents. Ever since then I immersed myself into witchcraft and the like; spent time with some of the most famous cults around the world and a couple of world famous witches and warlocks of the ages. There's always more, but that's the gist of my past."

Amy stared at Lance in shock. "So wait, the 13th century? That would make you at least 700 years old! You mean you can live forever?"

Lance blushed faintly and nodded his head. "Yes, as long as I perform a ritual every hundred years I can retain my youthful appearance and charm," he winked at Amy to which she just rolled her eyes, "and I can live forever. It's a very old and very complicated spell; although I am still vulnerable to physical bodily harm that is fatal."

Amy nodded her head and accepted everything that Lance had just told her. "So how do you know Loki?"

Lance smirked and winked at Loki. "I've bailed his little ass out once or twice."

Loki snorted at this and rolled his eyes. "Whatever kid, I don't remember asking for your specific help; when I need it I'll be sure to call 911, idiot."

Amy's eyebrows shot up at Loki as he merely grabbed a cupcake and continued to munch on it smearing chocolate icing all over his mouth. Looking back at Lance, he just shrugged at her.

"It's Loki's way of showing he actually gives a shit about me," Lance said while chuckling.

Loki snorted at this in derision but otherwise didn't comment. Jazz scuffed her foot against the floor still not looking up at Amy. Amy stared at her friend sadly; what could be so horrible that her friend wanted to continue lying to her?

"Jazz," Amy said quietly.

Jazz's head quickly looked up at her friend's voice and then quickly looked back down again.

"Jazz," Amy started again, "if you don't want to talk it's alright. I mean I just found out two of my friends are supernatural beings; I mean, if you don't want to say anything-"

"No Amy I'll tell you," Jazz said quietly as she cut her friend off.

Sighing heavily, the air seemed to shimmer around her friend. Amy stared at her in puzzlement until it seemed like a curtain had been lifted and the haze shifted away. Staring at her friend in wide-eyed shock Amy couldn't help but stare at her friend's ears.

Elongating slightly her ears tapered out to a pointy end. She was an elf! If it had been on any other normal person, the ears would have looked goofy but on Jazz they fit perfectly. Her features had become even more slanted like a cat and her eyes glittered out at her an even more pronounced, vibrant, emerald green. Even her body seemed to have changed. She seemed taller and lither in stature than before and more toned on her arms. Heck, her whole body was probably toned but that's all Amy could see clearly on her friend.

"Wow," Amy intoned shocked into speechlessness.

Loki snorted again and rolled his eyes. "At least you got a "wow" Jazz," Loki said derisively as he air quoted what Amy had just said.

Amy waved him off as she watched Jazz blush and shift awkwardly under all the attention. Amy slowly walked up to her and stared at her until Jazz made direct eye contact.

"Why did you never tell me before?" she asked quietly.

"Would you have believed me?" asked Jazz skeptically.

Amy frowned at this and thought to herself, 'Probably not.'

Jazz seemed to read the expression and nodded.

"Wait, why haven't I noticed this before? What did you just do?" asked Amy very curious about her all of a sudden shy friend.

Blushing Jazz explained quietly, "What you see before you Amy is my true self. The visage you saw when you first met me was a fake that I had created myself to make me appear more human and allow myself to mingle amongst you. It was just a simple shroud that concealed me."

"I'm from the Norse mythology mostly, and am known as a Light elf. There are those of us who are known as dark elves but I have never had the misfortune to meet one, and believe me you do not want to. We are also known as the fair folk, because we are lighter, stronger, faster, and some even say more beautiful than humans, yet I for one am not so sure about that. I can also use magic like Lance to either benefit or abuse other people but honestly I don't use it much at all."

Amy's head was reeling from all of this information that had just been piled onto her. Looking dazedly at her friends she started laughing. Loki, Lance, and Jazz all looked at her as if she had lost her marbles. Who knows? Maybe she had.

"What's so funny now?" asked Loki irritably.

"It's not really supposed to be funny but one time someone told me something," Amy started to explain, "a good friend of mine one time told me to always watch out who you meet in your life because sometimes he said thing's aren't always as they seem."


	24. False Accusations and Attacks

Amy lightly rubbed her temples as she sat in a deserted corner of the school campus. Her thoughts whirling around inside her head made her feel dizzy and disoriented by everything that she had come to know and learn. It turns out her best friends are all some kind of magical creatures or Gods in Loki's case.

Amy shook her head as she thought of Gabe as Loki. It was just impossible for her to fully wrap her mind around her smaller friend. She had grown used to his quirky ways, sweet tooth, joking personality and obviously his name; now everything felt as if it were turned on its head upside down. Had she taken all of his quirks and looked at them under the trickster heading in one of her myth textbooks, she would have noticed a direct correlation between the two. It would have saved her many headaches.

To think that one of her closest friends was actually the one killing or pranking all of these people made Amy's eyes tear up all over again. She always had a clear idea of right and wrong. In her eyes killing someone was the biggest no, no that one could do. Yet in this case Amy found the boundaries starting to blur increasingly worse. These people all did something wrong, they all made mistakes in their lives; but was the highest punishment, meaning death, really what some deserved? Sure, one of the professors did some pretty appalling things but was it really right in the end to kill someone? She struggled with this concept, wrestling it like a tiger in her mind. Did it make them just as bad to kill these people? Did it bring them down to their level of committing atrocious crimes?

'I would hate to be God,' Amy thought to herself quietly as she stared up at the sky.

Watching the fluffy white clouds lazily pass by her in the huge, wide, blue, open sky Amy couldn't help but feel envious of their free movement. They were able to go anywhere they pleased. Able to travel at great speeds and not have to deal with earthly problems must be a huge stress reliever.

Amy scratched the side of her nose and shook her head. "I don't think I can tell what's right and wrong anymore God," Amy said quietly to herself. She had never talked to God before, however the last little while she had seen her faith in the unknown leap and bound to where it was now.

Suddenly, Amy felt a strong chill go down her back and she shivered violently. Sure it was still slightly cool outside but today it was warmer more so than usual. No wind had passed by and no one was near her to stir the air. Amy frowned as she looked around herself confirming that no one was indeed around. Shrugging she brushed off the incident and looked across the grounds.

Across she could see the same tall tree that she had first met Gabe under. Sighing at the thought, she basked in the warm glow that had come over and yet the slight defensiveness that had also occurred. Missy's gang had just harassed her at the time when she had met him and her nerves were a little on edge and frayed, not knowing quite what to expect from him. Yet, Gabe had made her feel welcomed, and it sounded stupid to her before and still kind of did, but he was somewhat like an angel watching over her. Smiling gently Amy replayed the meeting again and again in her mind. Her eyes shined brightly with the lovely memories.

Then she had a serious thought encroach in her mind. If she had known what she knew now back then would she still have gotten to know Gabe?

Amy chewed her bottom lip lightly as she thought of this and finally shrugged her shoulders. She couldn't seem to make up her mind when it came to that question.

Then thoughts of Jazz and Lance filled her thoughts. Lance as an incredibly old warlock and her small little pixie friend as a light elf made Amy's head give a mighty swoop. She couldn't believe that the people that she had surrounded herself with were in fact mythical creatures and she never had a slight thought of it before. Well maybe Jazz; however, she had written that off, maybe she shouldn't have been so quick to dismiss.

When she thought back on it, she probably would have always still been her friend's friend. It seemed wrong for her to judge them just on whom they were. Wasn't that being racist just in a slightly different way than people would normally think?

Jazz had made her life here incredibly easier. Her friend always knew when to be quirky and give Amy a good laugh, yet she also knew when it was time to be serious and give her friend her full and undivided attention. Jazz knew her likes and dislikes, she could stick up for her, and she even knew before it seemed like Amy knew, when she needed to talk to someone. Her hyperness knew no bounds and more than once was Amy woken up early in the morning by a bouncing pixie, or she guessed elf now, begging her to go jogging with her because Dr. Phil said so. She would always just roll her eyes at this but still go after her friend even when they later had breakfast and she face planted into her pancakes. True story; never mind that crap of it happened to a friend of a friend; no, it happened to her, plain and simple.

Lance was like an older brother figure to her and she adored him. He was always so courteous and Amy scoffed at this thought.

'Well seriously Amy what did you expect from a 700 year old something warlock,' Amy thought to herself.

He was super protective of both her and Jazz, and they were always close. They had become to be known as the threesome, as bad as it sounded, since they all always seemed to be joined at the hip 8 times out of 10. He could pick the best movies and bring the best junk food on their "girl/boy nights." Lance always made them swear never to repeat this to the other guys and so Jazz and Amy used it as blackmail against him but it was all in good fun and Lance could never say no to either of them.

When Amy really thought of all of this, she had to concede that no matter how odd they were, or how different their ideas were from each other's or hers, and how many times they could get in an epic shouting match; they were still her best friends. She would be extremely shallow if she turned her back on them now because of something like this. They had trusted her with their biggest secret; how could she judge them and shun them now? How many people found out that the supernatural was real? Probably no one almost.

Sighing, Amy rung her hands, the God, warlock, elf, and a human as the best of friends, who would have ever thought?

Laughing lightly Amy said loudly to herself, "I guess the answer would have to be a yes."

"What would be a yes?" asked a voice coming from behind her.

Jumping and squeaking slightly in alarm Amy jumped from the bench she was sitting on and whirled around to face the person that had just spoken.

Dean stood behind her staring at her with raised eyebrows and his hands held up in a placating gesture.

Amy's heart was racing but upon seeing that it was only Dean, she slowly calmed down and straightened herself to look at him. Offering him a hesitant smile, she shrugged her shoulders.

"Sorry about that," Amy apologized quietly.

"Hey it's alright," Dean said, "no one got hurt, but if I ducked down any lower my nose would have been banged and you would have paid for that," Dean joked at her.

Amy giggled quietly and nodded her head. "It think that's fair."

Dean nodded his head. "So Amy, what was with that yes thing just now?"

Amy blushed slightly and shrugged. "Well I was kind of just thinking, and I finished my thought I guess and just yelled that out. Sorry again Dean, I wasn't paying any kind of attention to my surroundings I was in such deep thought."

Dean waved his hand at her. "Seriously Amy stop apologizing your killing me over here," he said laughing.

Amy nodded her head and said nothing more. Turning she was about to walk away when Dean interrupted her again.

"Hey Amy I was just wondering if you could show me the way to one of the science buildings," Dean started to say, "it's just, I can't still seem to find my way perfectly around here and I kinda need a guide there quickly if you're not too busy."

Amy shrugged at this. "No I'm not too busy I can show you the way Dean."

Dean smiled at her and thanked her as they began to walk towards one of the buildings.

School was out for the day and the campus was more deserted than usual. The hallways usually teeming with talk and bodies were eerily silent and dark now. Amy couldn't help but feel slightly nervous at this and her eyes darted around continuously. If it weren't for Dean right behind her she most likely would never have come this way and would have bolted, but this was the shortest way to the science room; so she forced herself to keep going.

Dean seemed to notice her edginess and remarked on it to her.

"You seem edgy Amy, you okay?"

Amy jumped slightly and nodded her head. "Yeah I'm fine Dean."

They kept walking and she had to frown to herself. Her stomach was churning and her head was starting to hurt giving her the warnings to the beginning of a huge migraine. Amy breathed deeply. Her palms were becoming clammy and as she kept walking, she tried to ignore the pit of emotions welling up inside her. It felt as if someone were screaming at her to run but yet she was doing the exact opposite and walking towards something that was about to spin completely out of control.

Finally, she saw the classroom door dead ahead and breathed a sigh of relief. As they came closer though, the door opened and Sam came through the door. What made Amy really pause was the look in his eyes and the wooden stake, which was dark at the end with a type of thick substance; she couldn't make it out in the dim lighting. Amy halted and looked behind her. Dean was pulling out the same stake from his coat also coated in the same liquid.

Amy shuddered as she looked at them with wide eyes panic starting to flare up. Her heart felt like a caged bird trying to beat itself free from her chest as if knowing what those stakes were for.

Amy laughed nervously, holding her hands up she kept both of them in the line of her sight as she slowly started to edge away from them as they followed her slowly hemming her in.

"Guys, what's going on?" Amy asked nervously.

Sam stared at her with the same hard eyes. "I think you know clearly what's going on, Amy."

Amy shook her head and frowned in puzzlement. "Actually I really don't."

Dean scoffed. "We know you killed those two professors Amy and that you pulled those serious pranks on all those kids earlier in the year; but then again that's what you do; it's kind of your job description kind of like this one is ours. So I guess I shouldn't be calling you Amy but Loki instead; gotta say you're pretty hot for a murderous maniac."

Amy's eyes bulged as she heard this. They weren't after her at all but Gabe instead! They had the wrong person! Who the hell were they really though? How did they know these things? And two professors! There was only one killed!

"I don't understand why you're calling me Loki at all," Amy pleaded to them her voice cracking with nerves, "and I promise you I didn't kill or prank those people! What do you mean though two professors? Only one was ever killed!"

"Wrong Loki," Sam said to her with an icy calmness, "the other died because he was eaten alive by what appears to be an alligator. He was doing illegal animal experimentation and even had an illegal fighting ring for dogs in his home. But yet I'm sure you knew all about that."

Amy's head spun as she heard this news. "That's impossible though," she choked out, "I would have heard something."

Dean pursed his lips into a thin line. "No you wouldn't have, the campus decided to keep this last death a secret so none of the student body would know. You can cut the crappy acting Amy. You had ties to all these victims."

Amy shook her head tears starting to blur her vision as she tried to discard all this latest news. It was bad enough that these two people firmly believed that she was the murder/prankster but that they even knew about Loki astounded her. Also the fact that Gabe had striked again sent a cold chill through her. Somehow, she knew she would always be affected by this if Gabe still chose this path but she was determined to try to understand him.

"You have this all wrong!" Amy shouted at them, "I never killed any of those people! I never have even pulled a prank in my life! Please I'm not guilty of any of this!" Amy tried to plead with them but even then, she could see Sam and Dean weren't listening to her seriously or with a lick of remorse.

"I really am sorry for this," Dean started to say, "but we have to do this."

They started to come at her and Amy turned to run. Before she could even get fully turned around though a pair of arms locked tightly around her own arms and pulled roughly on them making her cry out in sudden pain.

"Quickly boys stab her before she comes up with any illusions!" shouted a voice roughened with age and experience from behind her.

Turning her head slightly Amy saw a man with a grizzled beard, dark brown eyes, old laugh lines around his eyes. His jaw was set in a permanently severe expression that made Amy's stomach drop what felt like a thousand feet. He was wearing a ball cap low on his head and a plaid shirt. He stared at her with no pity and Amy knew she wasn't going to find any help with him at all.

Looking back in front of her she saw Dean fast approaching. Now he was standing in front of them and Amy could see that this was for real and that if she didn't act quickly she would be killed in the next second.

Before anyone knew what was going on Amy quickly lifted her leg up and kicked the man behind her as best as she could. She heard a groan and the arms slackened that were holding her in place. She could hear the whistling swing through the air of the stake coming to kill her and tried to dodge out of the way but she was too late.

Instead of hitting, her heart like it should have it embedded deeply into her shoulder. Amy's eyes bulged and a scream was caught in her throat as she staggered what appeared to be drunkenly away from them; choking on her own voice. It was quiet in the hallway as they all stared at her and Amy slowly looked at her pulsating shoulder. It felt as if a wickedly hot sword was seared into her muscles or a third limb. Vaguely she could feel her body shrieking in pain but it seemed like the adrenaline was coursing through her so fast it was a distant throb.

Staring at the wood she watched as her blood welled up around the stake and flowed down her whole front. Using her right hand she scrabbled desperately at the stake lodged in her shoulder but she couldn't pull it free, and every time she tried to tug it out, more white hot pain lanced up her whole arm coursing throughout her body.

Amy choked and started to cry loudly from the pain, huge tears washing down her face. She looked up at Sam, Dean and the older man as they stared at her in shock.

"Bobby she's not doing what should be happening; I know I didn't hit her in the heart but it should still have some effect right?" Dean asked quietly as he stared at her in horror.

Sam was also starring at her in absolute disbelief as he dropped his own stake.

"It should, and if it doesn't have any effect then that means…" Bobby trailed off leaving the obvious unsaid.

Amy cried out and screamed at them, "WHAT DID YOU DO! YOU STABBED ME!"

Dean slowly tried to approach her but Amy quickly backed away. She almost tripped on her own two feet, her head becoming dizzy and her body weak from blood loss.

"Amy please let me-" Dean started to say but Amy cut him off.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!"

With that last shout Amy turned and ran down the hallway blindly not knowing where she was going. She could hear Sam and Dean chasing her but somehow she lost them in the twisting maze of the school and finally slumped down in a dark corner from exhaustion.

Blood was still oozing steadily from her shoulder and the stake was still protruding out. The area around it was inflamed and she whimpered in fear and agonizing pain. She could feel the steady thump of her heart, and with each pump more blood spilled out from around the stake soaking her whole shirt in her blood.

Closing her eyes Amy started to think about Gabe. His quirky laugh, his sweet tooth, how he could always make her feel better even on the worst days and she laughed to herself even as more pain shot through her body.

"I wish I could see you, one last time Gabe," Amy quietly whispered into the dark hallway.

Suddenly, a man appeared right in front of her and looked down. She could see Gabe's eyes widen in shock and fear as he took in her appearance. Quickly kneeling down beside her, Gabe assessed her with his gentle eyes and hands. Amy whimpered brokenly when he prodded the wound with the stake embedded in it and she could have sworn that she saw his two eyes harden into two steely flints.

"Amy, this is going to really hurt, but I need to remove the stake from your body okay?" Gabe said to her quietly in his always present gentle voice with her.

Amy feebly nodded as she noticed her vision becoming black and blurry. Gabe seeming to sense this gripped the stake and stared into her eyes.

"Hang on Amy, I'm going to help you," Gabe promised her as he tightened his grip and gave an almighty pull.

Amy blacked out as soon as he did this from the overwhelming fear, exhaustion, and pain and welcomed the blackness that came; not being important to her whether it was unconsciousness or really death.


	25. Fun times in the Kitchen

**A/N:** This song is an Elvis Presley song that sings in the background to this chapter. You Ain't Nothin but a Hound dog I think is the title :p for some reason it just seemed to fit so well in this chapter I had to use it XD

* * *

><p>Amy slowly stirred as she came back to full awareness; her senses becoming aware one at a time. Slowly blinking her eyes open, she took in her surroundings. The black and white décor and the huge TV mounted on the wall told her all she needed to know about where she was.<p>

Sighing Amy closed her eyes and relaxed, lying back down. She tried to remember everything that had happened the previous night and as the events came back, she shuddered and a tear leaked out from the corner of her eye.

'Now I remember,' Amy thought to herself, 'I was attacked by Sam and Dean because they thought I was a trickster…that I was Gabe.'

Amy's heart squeezed painfully at the idea; Sam and Dean had been here for Gabe to kill him. She had to warn him! He may have actually killed those people and another professor but he was still her friend! Amy's heart twisted but she knew what she had to do. She couldn't judge Gabe she wasn't God so instead she would watch over him as best as she could.

_"You ain't nothin' but a hound dog_

_Cryin' all the time_

_You ain't nothin' but a hound dog_

_Cryin' all the time_

_Well, you ain't never caught a rabbit_

_And you ain't no friend of mine"_

"Yeah man, sing it again Elvis!" a voice shouted from behind the couch coming from the kitchen.

Amy immediately shot up off the couch as soon as she heard the music blaring and promptly lost her balance, falling off the side. Peaking back over the back of it, she stared at Gabe.

He was standing there in his white wife beater shirt and a pair of deep blood red boxers. Tapping his foot, he waved his spatula around in the air crazily as he worked at the stove; a sizzling sound reached Amy's ears along with a sweet smell permeating the air.

Amy got up from her position on the floor and walked around the couch towards the kitchen.

"Gabe!" Amy called out.

Turning quickly Gabe saw her and gave one of his huge smiles that brightened his whole face and made his eyes sparkle and twinkle.

"Amy! Glad to see your up!" he shouted out as he snapped his fingers and the record player stopped turning.

Amy raised her eyebrows at this and turned to him. Gabe just shrugged his shoulders and turned back around to get the pancake from the frying pan. Flipping it onto a plate on the counter he whistled.

"I hope your hungry girl cause I'm making lots for all of us," Gabe said cheerfully, "oh and how's your shoulder feeling?"

Amy had opened her mouth to ask him who was coming, but upon being asked about her shoulder, all thought flew from her head. She reached up and lightly pulled down her shirt so that she could see the smooth unblemished skin. No scar, no bruise, her skin wasn't even raised in the slightest. Frowning Amy gingerly touched her shoulder and marveled at how well it felt. It didn't even feel stiff.

Looking back up, she saw Gabe watching her carefully. Amy swallowed hard and nodded her head at him.

"You did that I'm guessing," she said to him softly, "well thank you for that it doesn't hurt at all."

Gabe nodded and smiled gently at her. "I'm glad to hear that hun, but I am a God you know," he said to her winking, "I can pull off just about anything."

Amy smiled sheepishly. "Umm Gabe there's something I have to tell you-"

"Save it kid," Gabe waved his hand, "right now let's just enjoy the moment shall we? We have pancakes being made, a good song playing by the way, and your fine! Anything else can wait till a little later then you can tell me everything; now want to help me?" he asked her raising his eyebrow back at her.

Amy smiled. "Sure."

"Now that's exactly what I like to hear!"

Snapping his fingers again, Elvis Presley's voice filled the small kitchen once more. Amy pranced up to Gabe's side and looked down at the pancake.

"Gabe how many chocolate chips did you put in it!" Amy asked as her eyes bugged out slightly.

Gabe winked at her. "A fair few."

"That's more than a fair few Gabe, what are you trying to do, give us all cavities for life?" asked Amy laughing at this. It didn't even resemble a pancake anymore there were so many chocolate chips piled on it.

Gabe burst out laughing. "Relax girl that one's mine! Yours I just finished but I'm making a lot more so you better have a huge appetite."

Amy rolled her eyes as Gabe grabbed the spatula and flipped the pancake and Amy started whipping up the batch for the next pancake.

A chocolate chip came whizzing out of nowhere and smacked Amy on the nose. Jumping she turned and looked at Gabe, shocked.

"You little trickster!" she shouted at him indignantly laughing again.

"That's what they call me!"

Amy grabbed a dollop of pancake mix and lobbed it at Gabe, it flew through the air straight and true and would have hit him square in the forehead, however, at the last second, Gabe dodged it and it splat onto the wall dripping sluggishly to the floor.

Snickering Gabe turned back to her and waved a finger. "Ah, ah, ah, don't try to pull one on me girl, you'll lose."

Rolling her eyes Amy turned back to her batter. "We'll just see about that Gabe, I'll get you when your least expecting it."

Gabe flipped the pancake onto the plate and Amy poured the batter for the next one. Suddenly the song went to its instrumental piece.

Gabe perked up and grabbed Amy's arms. "Dance with me! I love the instrumental part to this song! You can't beat the classics!"

Gabe began twisting and dancing exuberantly on the floor of the kitchen. Amy laughed at him and shook her head. "I can't dance Gabe!"

"Oh pish posh dancing like singing comes from the soul! There's no right or wrong way to dance so come on dance with me! Besides you did great last time!" he said happily, as he grabbed her arms and started to twist her around.

Amy laughed and tried to stop but it was as if Gabe's good mood was infectious. The both of them began twisting on the floor to Elvis's song laughing too hard to care.

"See you are a pro!" Gabe shouted out.

"Haha well maybe next to you I look like a pro!" Amy shouted back to him.

"Hey!" Gabe shouted indignantly.

"Just kidding Gabe!" Amy cried back laughing so hard she thought she cramped her entire stomach.

Gabe looked up and sniffed the air, turning to her he asked, "Do you smell that?"

Sniffing to Amy could smell the pungent aroma of something burning. Both of them turned towards the stove at the same time and their eyes bugged. The pancake in the frying pan was starting to smoke.

Running up to it Gabe conjured up a fire extinguisher and pointed it at the smoking pancake.

"Gabe wait don't!" Amy shouted but it was too late.

Gabe pointed and fired the fire extinguisher. A huge spray of white foam shot out of the extinguisher and covered absolutely everything. Amy stood there shocked as the foam backfired and covered herself; turning she saw Gabe likewise covered.

Grabbing a spoon Amy looked at her reflection. Her eyebrows and hair were covered in the white foam and even her cheeks were white.

"Yeah well you should see yourself Mr. Santa Claus," Amy said sardonically as Gabe laughed at her visage.

He stopped laughing and grabbed the spoon from her. His whole face was covered in a fluffy looking white beard from the foam giving him a Santa Claus appearance. They both started laughing again as the fire extinguisher disappeared from the room.

"Well at least the smoke is out," Gabe said offhand as the record kept playing.

"Yeah, but now all the pancakes are ruined," Amy said chuckling slightly.

"Not to worry Aim," Gabe said clicking his fingers.

Suddenly all the pancakes were pristine as well as the whole area. The pancake that they had just recently ruined was sizzling gently on the frying pan and the both of them were all completely cleaned up. Even the pancake batter on the wall was cleaned.

Amy looked around and nodded her head. "I would love to do that once in a while," Amy, said.

Gabe shrugged. "Well since you can't that's exactly why you have me!"

He flipped the pancake over and turned to look at her. "Would you put more chocolate chips in this one?"

Amy nodded. "Sure."

She reached over to put some on when she suddenly lost her balance and tripped into Gabe. The bowl of chocolate chips went spinning into the air as they both fell into a heap on the floor little chocolate chips raining down on them making little pinging noises as they hit the tile. The bowl clashed down onto the stove.

Slowly getting up they looked down at the….pancake? It didn't even resemble a pancake anymore. The chocolate chips were bubbling and melting across the whole pancake batter so none of it could be seen anymore, and it took on a dark chocolate hue.

"I'm sorry Gabe I didn't mean for that to happen," Amy started to say but Gabe waved her away.

"Are you kidding me? This looks excellent!" Gabe exclaimed excitedly.

Amy gave him a dead panned look. "You're kidding me."

"I kid you not!" he exclaimed as he cooked the…pancake for another few minutes then put it on a plate separately from the rest.

"Just as long as you eat it," Amy warned him.

"Who else is going to?" asked Gabe questioningly.

Amy smirked and rolled her eyes at him. "Good point." The song kept playing as they kept on making their pancakes.

"Did you put it on repeat?" asked Amy askance after hearing the song for what felt like the tenth time.

Gabe raised his eyebrows at her suggestively. "What can I say I love this song! I actually knew Elvis you know."

Amy raised her brows at him. "Really?"

"Yup! Let me tell you the guy really knew how to party it up!" Gabe said to her winking.

Through the blare of the music, the talking, and the sizzling of the pancakes both of them didn't notice or hear the door opening and closing behind them.

"What in the world happened here?" a voice asked above the music.

Jumping Gabe and Amy turned around to look at the person who had just spoken. Lance and Jazz stood in the entryway to the kitchen staring at the mess littering the floor. Gabe and Amy looked down and saw all the chocolate chips that they had neglected to pick up when they had fallen a little earlier.

"Well Gabe, either you have a lot of little bunnies that like to poop a lot or it's chocolate chips," said Jazz decisively.

Lance stooped down next to her and picked up a small chocolate chip. Plopping it into his mouth he chewed thoughtfully for a second or two.

Swallowing he said, "Were good; it's just chocolate chips."

"Of course it is sheesh," Gabe said turning back to the frying pan, "hey did anyone see a missing pancake?"

Amy glanced at him confusedly. Looking down at the frying pan she noticed that it wasn't there, or on the spatula…

Suddenly with a splat, the pancake fell straight onto Gabe's head with a loud squelch. Lance burst out laughing and even Amy and Jazz had to laugh too at the look on Gabe's face.

"Never mind, found it," said Gabe dejectedly.

A few minutes later they were all seated comfortably around Gabe's table which he had enlarged to make room for not only them but for the toppings for the pancakes. Apparently they needed everything that you could possible imagine to top a pancake if you were going to eat them, from the plain maple syrup and margarine to things like whipping cream, chocolate syrup, different fruits, and even gummy bears?

Amy had wrinkled her nose at this but didn't otherwise say anything about it. Grabbing a pancake she lightly spread margarine on it, drizzled some syrup, and started eating. Jazz sprinkled some fruit lightly over hers and began and Lance just grabbed a chocolate chip one and began eating it plain. Gabe on the other hand grabbed his….pancake and loaded it with tons of whipped cream, chocolate syrup and even gummy bears on it. Amy could even swear she saw sprinkles and some other things that she just cared not to pay attention to.

Lance wrinkled his nose at this. "Gabe that's disgusting. It's not even a pancake anymore."

Gabe glared at him from across the table. "And am I forcing you to eat any of it? No. So buzz off Lance."

Jazz and Amy shared two twin smirks at this and lightly kept on eating. Finally, Jazz looked up again as Gabe kept scarfing down his…breakfast.

"Amy I heard what happened the other day," Jazz said quietly, "we all did actually."

It became quiet around the table, even Gabe seemed to have frozen. Amy lightly put her fork down and wiped her mouth on her napkin.

"Umm yeah, luckily Gabe found me in time," Amy said quietly, "umm who exactly were they?"

"Their called hunters," Lance explained from his end of the table, "their main goal is to hunt down anything supernatural that harms humans and put a stop to them."

"You mean they kill them," Amy said.

"Amy, some monsters in this world go extremely bad and need to be dealt with and that's what the hunters do," Jazz tried to explain.

"No Jazz that isn't all they do," said Gabe finally speaking up, "don't sugar coat it for her she should know. Some hunters Amy don't differentiate if a monster is good or bad they just kill them because their different. I've seen plenty of monsters who have tried to make a better living and live alongside people; but some hunters still don't like that and exterminate them immediately."

"But if they're not doing anything wrong-"

"That's just it Amy they don't believe you aren't doing anything wrong," Lance said, "they think just because you're different from the rest of the population that you're a nuisance and a pest that's dangerous but that's in actuality wrong. It doesn't always turn out that way."

"Why did they target you Amy?" asked Jazz suddenly changing the topic.

Amy fidgeted in her seat. "Because I was the most likely perpetrator I think. I had connections no matter how small to all the victims."

Lance's eyes blazed as he looked directly across the table at Gabe staring down at his food.

"This is your entire fault Gabe," Lance spat out through clenched teeth.

Gabe looked up sharply at him and frowned.

"If you hadn't have taken those kinds of victims then they wouldn't have looked at Amy to begin with!" Lance accused angrily.

"Hey I can't help it alright? They were the jerks on campus it's just my M.I.O to take them out alright?" said Gabe.

"No it's not alright Gabe! You could have killed her!"

"But she's fine and I didn't!"

Lance breathed heavily and it was absolutely silent around the table as the two men stared each other down.

"You will be the death of her yet Gabe, mark my words," Lance spat out at him and stormed out of the small apartment.

Jazz and Amy gazed at each other. Gabe silently ran a hand through his shaggy hair as he sat back down.

"Amy, what were the names they gave you?" he asked her quietly.

Amy swallowed painfully. "Sam and Dean," she muttered quietly.

Gabe looked at her sharply. "Are you sure that that was their names? Did they give you a last name too?"

Amy shook her head no at him. Gabe sighed and sat back in his chair.

"What are you going to do Gabe?" asked Jazz quietly. Amy looked at her with gratitude she didn't have the strength to ask the question that was most on her mind at the moment. She thought she knew the answer but yet at the same time she didn't want it confirmed.

"I'll deal with them," said Gabe.

"Gabe-"Amy began to speak but Gabe over rode her.

"No Amy I have to deal with this, don't talk to them and stay near Jazz and Lance I don't think they know about either of you yet."

It was silent around the table for a while. Finally, Gabe spoke up to Jazz.

"You know what's going to happen don't you?"

Jazz nodded her head dejectedly as Amy stared at her two friends worriedly.

"Sorry what's going to happen?" she asked confusedly.

"We're going to have to leave here Amy, possibly for good, and there's a good chance we may never see you again."

The pit of Amy's stomach dropped upon hearing this uttered out of her friend's mouth.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** LOL I'm not laughing at the ending just at the beginning again XD I can just picture it all so well in my mind's eye I guess :p so I hope you all enjoyed it!


	26. Hard Times Ahead

Gabe walked through the halls of Crawford Hall stretching as he went. By now, the boys had got to be thinking of him as the next suspect. All you had to do was put one and two together and bam you got three but sometimes people fell short of that.

Walking in towards his janitor area, he opened his locker and got a few things out. Closing it, he turned around and walked back to where he had first entered. Seeing Sam and Dean standing there made Gabe, sigh inwardly.

'Okay, here goes nothing,' Gabe thought to himself as he forced a tired smirk onto his face.

"Hey boys what can I do for you?" he called out to them as he walked closer.

"Oh we just needed your help with opening a room up for us," said Dean off handily.

Gabe nodded, walked out of the gated area; turning around he locked it tight.

"Sorry I'm dragging a little ass today boys, lots of sex if you get my drift," said Gabe to them as they began climbing the stairs.

"Yeah kinda hard not to," said Dean evasively, "hey so we need to look at some of the rooms on level 3 if that's no problem to you."

"Sure thing fellas," said Gabe non-chalantly.

"Oh damn I seem to have forgotten something in the truck," said Sam doggedly, "you know what guys you go on ahead and I'll catch up."

"You sure?" asked Dean.

"Yeah no go on, I shouldn't be long," said Sam quickly.

Gabe shrugged and began leading Dean further up the stairs. He heard the door open and close from farther down but he had the sinking suspicion he knew where that hunter was going. Oh well let him, he had planted everything.

Taking Dean to the supposed room he wanted, he unlocked the door and allowed him inside.

"Was there anything else you needed?" he asked the hunter.

"Nah I'm good," said Dean, "thanks though."

Nodding Gabe walked back out of the room and down the hall. When he had put a good distance away from all of them, he appeared in a locked classroom and stared out at the grounds. Soon enough Sam and Dean both emerged from the building. Wild hand gesticulations, and somewhat raised voices made Gabe sit back and watch.

Quirking an eyebrow down at them he thought to himself, 'Still fighting huh? Well good, cause I can work with this.'

Soon Sam quickly turned and stormed off down the campus grounds leaving Dean sitting there staring angrily after him.

Appearing out of the classroom Gabe started to walk further down the hallways whistling while he went. Turning the corner, he stopped suddenly as he saw Amy walking a little further down the same hallway he was in.

"Amy!" Gabe shouted after her.

Amy jumped and turned around a scared look on her face. Upon seeing Gabe, she rushed up and he swooped her up into a big hug. Amy laughed at this as he twirled her around and around.

Shrieking with laughter Amy yelled out to him, "Gabe! Stop! Put me down already!"

Still smiling brilliantly Gabe gently set her back down on her feet as he gazed at her. Immediately he noticed her eyes looked slightly red and she was shivering slightly.

"Hey you okay?" asked Gabe instantly concerned for her, "why aren't you with either Jazz or Lance like I asked you to be? Are you cold?"

Amy shook her head. "No I'm fine Gabe, and I kinda snuck away from them. Please don't be mad! I just needed some breathing space."

"Amy I just don't want you to get hurt and those guys are still out and about."

Amy nodded her head. "I'm sorry Gabe I'll head back to the dorm as soon as I can but I had to talk to you today. I just have a bad feeling that something is going to happen and I can't walk away from this just yet."

Gabe stared at Amy sadly. "Aim I'm gonna be okay, I don't want you to worry about me or Jazz or Lance either alright? They're not going to be involved."

Amy could feel tears almost pour out of her eyes but she held them back as she lifted her chin and looked at Gabe calmly. "Gabe you could get hurt and that scares me!"

Gabe gazed at her calmly and lifted his hands cupping her small face within the palms of either hand. Wiping her cheeks with his thumbs, he stared deeply into her eyes.

"Look at me Aim; I'm not going anywhere anytime soon okay? Trust me on this," Gabe said to her pleadingly.

Amy stared at him quietly for a few seconds; she slowly nodded her head. Gabe wrapped her up in a hug and she buried her face in his shoulder, sobbing quietly. Gabe ran a soothing up and down her back and lightly whispered endearments to her.

Eventually Amy's sobs faded into hiccups and she just lightly trembled in the tricksters grasp. Gabe heard the light patter of footsteps and looked up. Jazz came sprinting from around the far corner. Her face had the look of someone being harried and extremely worried but as soon as she saw the two of them her features softened into a gentle smile.

Jazz began walking nearer to them and Gabe looked down at Amy still nestled in his arms. He gave her a bright smile and nodded to Jazz over her shoulder. Wiping her eyes Amy turned around and gave Jazz a watery grimace.

"Jazz I'm sorry I ran off like that so suddenly," Amy apologized sincerely.

Jazz gave her a weak smile in return. "Hey don't worry Amy, but seriously you scared both me and Lance when you just disappeared like that so please don't do it again?"

Amy nodded her head and turned back to Gabe.

"Are you sure you're going to be okay, Gabe?" asked Amy quietly.

Gabe gave her a smirk. "Just stay safe yourself Amy and when I'm done I'm gonna come and visit you, I promise."

Amy gave a weak nod at this and Jazz came up and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Steering her around the two of them slowly made their way back up the hallway and around the corner.

Before they rounded the corner and out of sight, Amy took one last look back at Gabe. A depth of sadness he hadn't seen in many years still permeated her eyes, as if she just knew that in the end this friendship could never work out. Finally, they rounded the corner and once they were out of sight, Gabe heaved a deep sigh.

Scratching the top of his head, he rubbed his eyes and started to walk down another hallway. He knew that in the end the decision they would all have to make in order to keep Amy safe would kill them all, too some degree.

Stepping into the auditorium, he surveyed the whole area. Nodding his head Gabe started to step down the stairs.

'This will do,' he thought to himself as he took a chocolate bar from his pocket, tearing off the wrapper and munched on his bar as he waited for the time to come.

**~x~**

**A Few Hours Later**

**~x~**

Amy and Jazz were sitting in their dorm room together looking through some text books on some last minute revision.

Rubbing her head Amy read the same sentence again, for what felt like the hundredth time. Finally, fed up she heaved a huge sigh and slammed the textbook shut.

Jazz startled from the other end of the couch and looked up. She watched Amy lean over and put the book on the table leaning back, rubbing her temples slowly.

"What's up hun?" asked Jazz softly.

Amy sighed after a while and then opened her mouth. She was about to speak then seemed to catch herself and started to flounder with her words. Jazz gave her a soft smile. Closing her book, she placed it on the table as well and leaned over. Placing her hand gently on Amy's shoulder she smiled at her.

Amy looked up into Jazz's gentle face.

"Amy just tell me, it's okay," Jazz told her softly.

Amy nodded her head and gulped audibly. "It's just I'm confused, and I guess worried."

Jazz frowned at this. "Okay let's start with the worried part, why is that?"

Amy twisted her hands together, "It's just, what if something horrible happens to Gabe, Jazz? What if those hunters hurt him or worse and we can't do anything about it? What if I never see him again?"

Amy wiped her eyes furiously as she felt tears leaking out. She was furious at herself for having such little faith in herself and her friends, right when she needed it the most for all of them; but she couldn't help the yawning pit in the middle of her stomach, growing rapidly with each passing second. Jazz gave her a small smile and cuddled closer to her. Wrapping her arms around her, she shushed her quietly while she waited for Amy's crying to abate. Finally, Amy seemed to have calmed down and Jazz spoke.

"Amy, Gabe has done this more times than either you or me can count, seriously," Jazz told her friend, "this isn't his first rodeo and believe me it won't be his last."

Amy wiped her eyes and sat away from Jazz to look at her. "Jazz are you sure about that?"

"Positive girl," Jazz said confidently.

Amy held up her hand. "Pinky promise?"

Jazz grinned widely at this then held her hand up. "Pinky promise."

Both of them locked their little fingers around each other's and smiled at one other.

Sitting back on the couch Amy again tried to relax but found that her body refused to do so. Jazz studied her friend quietly then broke the silence softly.

"Amy you said you were confused too," Jazz wheedled at her softly.

Amy slowly nodded her head. "Yeah umm…"

"Go for it girl this is a no judge zone right now," Jazz snickered at her.

Amy gave her friend a weak smile, took a deep breath, and said, "You guys mentioned that you might have to leave…"

Jazz instantly got a sad look in her eyes and this time she leaned back into the couch. Staring up at the ceiling, it was quiet in the small dorm room for a few minutes. Amy began to fidget restlessly.

"Look Jazz if you don't want to talk about it I-"Amy began to say but Jazz shook her head.

"No its okay Amy, you kinda have to know at a certain point and since your bringing it up it may as well be now," said Jazz.

Amy nodded her head slowly at this and waited patiently for her friend to further explain.

"You see when hunters get drawn into our area for whatever reason we mostly always clear out," Jazz began to explain.

Amy frowned at this but decided not to interrupt her and instead listened to what Jazz had to say.

"We mostly do it because of the risk, we don't want them accidentally stumbling on us. To be honest it has happened so often I never really had a home to begin with. We were always constantly on the move and finally I got fed up and went my own way thinking it would be easier with just me, but it really wasn't," Jazz said as she chewed her lip.

"But I don't understand," began Amy silently, "Gabe said, that the chances you guys are known, by these hunters, are very slim if non-existent at all so why do you have to go?"

Jazz gazed at Amy sadly. "I'm sorry it's just for safety reasons honestly, would you rather us stay here and be caught?"

Amy bit her bottom lip and looked away. "No," she mumbled sullenly.

"Exactly," said Jazz as she placed a comforting hand on Amy's shoulder.

"Take me with you then," Amy said seriously, as she turned to her friend again.

Jazz leaned back as she stared at her shocked. "No Amy were not taking you with us."

"Why not?" asked Amy in a steely tone of voice, "You guys are some of the best friends I have ever had! Pretty much the only friends. You accepted me for me and not because of what I liked or disliked or because I'm supposedly smart. I could help you! Please I have nothing to go back to, really I don't, I just want an escape too," Amy pleaded with her friend.

Jazz shook her head sadly at this. "Well first and foremost Aims you're not supposedly smart you are a genius," she said as she laughed at her friend.

Sobering up again quickly Jazz gave her a serious look. "But you can't come. It's too dangerous for you Amy; and Gabe or any of us for that matter couldn't live with ourselves if something happened to you because of us. Besides, you have a life here and you're making it better by getting this education. You have so much ahead of you girl, don't throw it away because of us."

Amy didn't answer Jazz and the two of them elapsed into painful silence. Finally, Amy got up from the couch and walked towards the door. Jazz sat up straighter frowning after her friend.

"Where do you think you're going?" asked Jazz suspiciously.

"Relax I'm just going for a walk; I have to clear my head," said Amy quietly, "please don't follow me."

With that said she walked out the door and closed it gently behind her. The campus grounds were virtually deserted as she walked through them. People were mostly out since it was evening, or studying tests and the exams rapidly approaching.

Amy sighed as she kicked a rock down the sidewalk and listened to the birds chirp in the last of the sun's rays. Stopping suddenly she looked up as shade shrouded her in somewhat darkness; he same tree in front of the main building where she had met Gabe embraced her in its heavy boughs. Amy smiled again at the memory and lightly touched the bark of the tree. Pulling her hand back, she gazed at it confused to the touch. It felt warm like a humans body heat, yet when she placed her hand back against it, it felt like any other normal tree. Frowning at this Amy shook, her head and walked around it too face the main building.

'Maybe Gabe is in there cleaning,' Amy thought to herself.

Shrugging she started to walk up the steps to the front doors. She felt like there were eyes' staring at her from behind, but upon turning around no one was on the campus. It was eerily deserted. Frowning and shrugging it off she ignored the shivers coursing down her spine Amy pushed the front doors open and walked inside.

The door lightly clicked shut behind her and she stared down the empty, dark, and deserted hallways. Shivering slightly Amy was about to call out when she heard the faint pulse beats and rhythms of what sounded like a loud stereo playing a song.

Amy leaned her head to the side in puzzlement and began to follow the noise. Getting to the stairway at the end of one of the tunnels, she proceeded past the stairs slightly to a door-marked auditorium. It sounded like it was coming from in here.

Slowly Amy reached out and grabbed the door handle. She turned it expecting it to be locked and was pleasantly surprised when the door opened easily. Nodding her head Amy slipped through the narrow crack the door had made for her and shut it behind her.

Blinking her eyes Amy stood still for a few minutes allowing her eyes to adjust to the sudden darkness around her.

'I must be backstage,' Amy thought to herself.

Finally, she could see again and she took a good look. Old lighting fixtures to illuminate the stage rested to the side. Some rickety tables, a few chairs, and some stands for music stood around the area. She could see another door labeled costumes and…was that glittering lights?

Amy frowned as she walked nearer to, or what she supposed was the front, of the stage. She could see what looked like more walls in front of her instead of a curtain acting as what she supposed some kind of backdrop to whatever was in the front.

Ducking down slightly Amy made her way over to a section of the wall that was letting out the lights through its round holes. Peering through Amy's eyes widened comically at everything that met them.

She was somewhat right, they were walls and the middle one had two chalkboards on either side of each other. Next to them were two windows that looked to be shining with some kind of light from the outside but that was impossible considering that they were in the auditorium. There were comfortable chaises situated around the stage, two to be exact, and a lava lamp sat on what she supposed were two end tables and the bar in the far corner. Then her eyes were drawn to the huge bed in the middle. It was round and had deep red sheets draped over it. Appearing to be some sort of canopy bed considering there were four posts and silk draping down from the top pinned to the posts. The glittering lights came from the large disco ball rotating up above the bed.

What really made Amy's eyebrows raise and her face turn slightly hot was the scantily clad women that were sitting on the bed. They had just lingerie on to cover themselves and of course, that did not leave anything to the imagination.

Looking past all that, she saw Gabe sitting in the audience chairs. Amy's heart sped up upon seeing the trickster alright and smirking.

'Thank God he's alright!' Amy cried to herself joyously in her head.

Upon looking closer though, she noticed that he wasn't alone. Dean was standing in the front of the stage. He and Gabe were talking and Amy's heart started to constrict.

What was going to happen? Would Dean kill Gabe or try too?

Amy was too far back to hear what was being said between the two of them but then suddenly the doors at the top of the auditorium banged open. Amy jumped slightly and shook in her crouched position as she stared at Sam and the other older man that had held her while Dean had tried to kill her not even twenty four hours ago.

Amy balled her fists up and grit her teeth. She wasn't leaving; she had to see what happened one way or another.

In their hands, they were all holding wooden stakes and Amy noticed Dean take something out of his jacket pocket. Eyes widening as she saw him raise the stake up past his head. Just when he was going to swing down though one of the girls that had been sitting on the bed grabbed his arm and wrenched it back sending the stake spiraling away from Dean. Finally, with one good hit she sent Dean flying into the other woman.

Amy's mouth dropped open in amazement as she watched Dean being manhandled and then suddenly a huge man that looked like he belonged in a horror film loomed behind Sam with a chainsaw. Sam ducked as the chainsaw swung down just missing him by a hairs breadth.

The older man ran up to help Sam out with the chainsaw. The Chinese styled covers on the side of the stage were ripped to shreds from this huge hulk of a man. As they were pre-occupied with the guy from "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" Dean was still getting pounded around by the nightmare sisters.

Amy could see Gabe sitting calmly in the same seat not having budged a single time since she had been watching. Now he was eating his chocolate bar, and she could see a glimmer in his eyes even from here. Suddenly Dean was launched into the air and he slammed into the chair right in front of Gabe's.

Clapping his hands Gabe loudly proclaimed, "Nice show ladies, nice show!"

Dean was on the ground blindly reaching out towards something. Gabe lifted his hands in a gesture of defeat.

"Dean, Dean, Dean, Dean," Gabe began, "what can I say, I really did like you but you hurt a good friend of mine and I don't take too kindly too that."

Suddenly Sam threw something in Dean's direction. Grabbing it from mid-air Dean lifted it and plunged the stake deep into Gabe's chest right where his heart would be.

Amy opened her mouth to let out a scream but just then, a hand clapped down hard on her mouth and pulled her back into a chest. Struggling Amy turned wide eyes back and saw Jazz clutching at her tightly.

"Amy we have to move now!" Jazz hissed to Amy in her ear.

Amy shook her head vehemently as she tried to struggle her way out of Jazz's grip and get to Gabe. Jazz forcefully hauled her back towards the door leading out of the auditorium. Suddenly, she changed tack and dragged her towards the costume room.

Grabbing the door handle Jazz cursed when she realized it was locked. Placing her hand on the doorknob again, she closed her eyes and tried to concentrate. A faint green light pulsed around her hand and suddenly both girls heard a click as the lock opened and the door swung open.

Jazz dragged Amy in forcefully and closed the door behind them. The last thing Amy saw was the illusions, that Gabe had created, evaporate into thin air and his dead body lying still in that same auditorium seat.

**~x~**

**Slightly Later**

**~x~**

What Amy had not seen was that later after Sam, Dean and Bobby had left, was another janitor walk into the auditorium. It was dark in the room and he calmly walked over to the dead body that was still lying slumped in the chair. Staring down at it he reached into his pocket.

As he did so a bluish, flickering light that looked like flames appeared around the dead body. It quickly evaporated into thin air.

Gabe gave the spot a slight grin and a nod, lifting the chocolate bar he took a huge bite out of the end of it and slowly turned around, walking out of the auditorium doors leaving them to swing shut behind him forever.


	27. Some Endings are only the Beginning

**A/N:** This is the last chapter. Now I encourage you to tell me if something is wrong, or a chapter repeats itself, so I can go back and check it over again to see what went wrong. I think everything is in order however, and I hope you check out the sequel, get your answers, or most of them anyways ;) and enjoy any of my other stories!

* * *

><p>Amy looked up at the sun slowly starting to rise above the horizon in the east. Clutching her chest, she stared at it as tears ran down her cheeks flowing freely. Amy shook her head, balled her hands up into tight fists, and rubbed at her eyes.<p>

She was furious at herself. Furious that she had let her ideals get in the way of getting closer to Gabe, furious that she had been so passive and let things walk by her, and above all furious and deeply upset that her friend was no longer here. She couldn't even say sorry! When a best friend fought with another, they always seemed to have the time to make up but in this case, Amy felt like she hadn't done everything she could have. She had judged him harshly when she had first acknowledged what he was and now she was paying for it dearly.

Crying even harder she clutched at her stomach as the tears came heavier. Things were starting to look up! They had started to bond and become even closer to one another and then he was ripped away from her…one of her best friends. Now Amy realized the saying you don't know what you have until it's gone to its full meaning. She hadn't realized it until it was too late and now she would suffer for it.

Amy sobbed even harder at her loss. Her heart felt like a large gaping, cold, black hole sucking away all her misery, anger, and pain and yet fueling her at the same time with even more depressing thoughts. Her eyes were scratchy; her skin felt cold to the touch, and her whole body shook with her mournful wails.

Hearing footsteps behind her Amy refused to turn around and acknowledge who it was. She knew but at the same time, she didn't want to turn.

"Amy?" Jazz said hesitantly behind her.

Amy shrugged her shoulders but otherwise didn't answer.

"Amy," this time it was Lance, "we wanted you to know that were leaving. We think some other hunters may have caught onto us. We don't know how honestly, we thought we were careful, but we have to leave before they get here. Do you understand what that means?"

Amy understood knowing full well. Gabe had left her and now Lance and Jazz were as well. She couldn't really blame them; Gabe did seem like the one that held them all together. With him gone things would slowly start to fall apart it seems one way or another. Either sooner or later and it seemed this time it would be sooner.

"Amy," Jazz choked out, "I'm sorry but we can't take you with us. We think you should be okay, the hunters won't come after you now…since your human and all. Besides, we may meet again soon!"

Amy could hear Jazz's tears from behind her attempt at being cheerful but she just shook her off. She really didn't need another person trying to comfort her right now, or to pity her for that matter. It felt as if, should anyone touch her, she would shatter into a million pieces; or as if, a piece of her soul was lost for good.

"Amy." Lance started to walk towards her.

Amy seemingly able to sense his hand flinched and raised her right hand in a gesture of stop still not facing him. She swallowed around her throat that felt as if it were ten sizes too large for her at the moment.

"Please don't touch me and just leave," Amy croaked out through her rough voice, "I can't look at either of you right now. It's nothing personal just if you want to leave…leave."

"Amy, it's not that we want to lea-"Jazz began to say but Amy shook her head vehemently.

"No Jazz, please I can't listen to this right now, maybe never, just leave me in peace," Amy begged her friend quietly.

Amy couldn't see it, but both Lance and Jazz gave one another one last sorrowful look. Nodding to each other they gazed at Amy's back sadly.

"Were sorry Amy, we truly are," Lance said quietly as he started to walk away from her.

Amy could hear their footsteps become fainter and fainter as the sun slowly bathed everything in its bright pink, red glow. The wind whispered around the deserted school grounds and Amy could have sworn she heard Jazz's voice one last time stretching back to her, "We will always love you Aim, even Gabe loved you too."

Amy whirled back around to look at her friends one last time. What met her eyes made her even more depressed. The grounds were deserted, no one was up at this time yet anyways, and she was the only one that stood in the center of the grounds shivering in the cool early morning breeze.

What Amy saw though also made her loose some more tears at the sight. The same tree that she had met Gabe under for the very first time was in full bloom. The leaves a beautiful vibrant green and spread to their fullest width possible. What should have taken it another month to achieve it did in the course of the night it seemed. Also in the tree were huge white flowers. Amy didn't know what they were and she was pretty sure this kind of tree should never produce flowers of any kind but there it was defying nature to its fullest. From those same flowers, Amy caught a whiff of Jazz's flowery scented perfume she always wore.

Hiccupping and wiping at her eyes as more tears flowed; her friend had given her one of the best gifts she could have and also a tribute to her and Gabe. She would never forget them…any of them.

**~x~**

Amy gently finished writing the last page of her first, and last, year at Crawford Hall in a red, leather-bound diary. The memory of her gazing at the tree on the grounds in full bloom of that day made her heart still twist with depression. She gently wiped a tear that had fallen on the last page. Closing the diary gently she clasped the latch firmly in place and gazed down at it.

That was her whole history in that one little books; all of her best, and some of the hardest memories of her life. Sighing quietly Amy looked out the window beside her. The sun was out and the sky was a forget me not blue. She smiled gently but it seemed the smile never reached her eyes.

Suddenly, Amy thought she saw a brush of movement from the corner of her eye. Turning, her eyes opened wide at the sight that met her.

**END OF PART 1**

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><p><strong>AN:** Yeah so just clarifying the whole time you were reading this story it was like you were reading a huge diary entry! XD that's actually something I came up with early on for the story when I was thinking of ways for it too end! But the fic obviously wasn't meant to be written as a diary entry it was meant to take you off guard. lol

So all that stuff had happened with Amy, prior to the very ending of the story when you read that she's writing in her diary ;) I have to say in all my years reading fan fiction I don't think I've come across an ending like this one. Or not very often at least XD


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